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Buittle Old Parish Church
Church (13th Century), Well (Medieval)
Site Name Buittle Old Parish Church
Classification Church (13th Century), Well (Medieval)
Alternative Name(s) Buittle Old Kirk; Sancanel; Buittle Church; Buittle Old Church; Buittle Old Kirk
Canmore ID 64872
Site Number NX85NW 1
NGR NX 80780 59834
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/64872
- Council Dumfries And Galloway
- Parish Buittle
- Former Region Dumfries And Galloway
- Former District Stewartry
- Former County Kirkcudbrightshire
NX85NW 1 80780 59834
(NX 80780 59834) Buittle Church (NR) (Remains of)
OS 6" map (1957).
For successor and present parish church (NX 8080 5989), see NX85NW 13.
The ruins of Buittle Church dedicated to St. Colman (H Scott 1917) consist of 13th century nave and 14th century chancel. Though the detail would rather suggest an earlier date, it is possible that the addition dates from about 1381 when the church was given to Sweetheart Abbey.
The nave appears to have undergone frequent repair in later times; the west gable has a round-headed doorway and window which may have been reconstructed at a later period.
RCAHMS 1914, visited 1911; C A R Radford 1963
Sancanel was the name of a well near the ruins of the old parish church.
R F Tarbet 1898
Buittle Old Kirk is as described and planned. No information on the well could be obtained.
Visited by OS (RD) 30 July 1969.
Buittle Old Kirk [NAT]
OS (GIS) MasterMap, August 2009.
NX85NW 1 80780 59834
See also:
NX85NW 13 80801 59890 Buittle Parish Church
Publication Account (1986)
The roofless shell of the most intact medieval parish church in the region stands in the churchyard at Buittle to the south ofits 19th century successor. It consists of a plain unaisled nave to which a wider and more elaborate chancel has been added. The nave possibly belongs to the 13th century, while the belfry and other minor alterations are post-Refonnation products. The east wall of the chancel has an array of three single-light windows, beneath which there is a later central doorway. The form of the chancel arch, and the heads of the window embrasures indicate perhaps a late 13th or early 14th century date.
This church may date substantially from the era of Balliollordship of Buittle between 1234 and 1296, but the chancel may belong to the period of Douglas possession after 1325. In 1347 the parish and its church were appropriated by the abbot and convent of Sweetheart Abbey. It remained in use until the present parish church was built in 1819. There is a tradition, first recorded in 1684, that the church of this parish was originally at Kirkennan (NX 8258) where remains of burials, but not buildings, have been found.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Dumfries and Galloway’, (1986).
