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Closeburn Old Church
Burial Ground (Medieval) - (Post Medieval), Church (Medieval) - (Post Medieval), Mausoleum (18th Century), Bell (17th Century)
Site Name Closeburn Old Church
Classification Burial Ground (Medieval) - (Post Medieval), Church (Medieval) - (Post Medieval), Mausoleum (18th Century), Bell (17th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Closeburn, Parish Church, Burial-ground, Kirkpatrick Of Closeburn Mausoleum; Closeburn, Old Parish Church
Canmore ID 66021
Site Number NX99SW 22
NGR NX 90375 92318
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/66021
- Council Dumfries And Galloway
- Parish Closeburn
- Former Region Dumfries And Galloway
- Former District Nithsdale
- Former County Dumfries-shire
NX99SW 22 90375 92318
(NX 9037 9230) Church (NR) (Remains of)
OS 6" map (1957).
For present parish church, immediately to the S see NX99SW 54.
The remains of the former parish church, rebuilt in 1741 incorporating the remains of its predecessor (R M F Watson 1901), and in use until 1878 when its successor (at NX 9037 9227) was built.
Norman fragments survive and a 10th.c Anglian cross-shaft (now in Dumfries Museum) and a grave-slab of similar date, preserved in the porch of the modern church in 1920, but now also in Dumfries Museum, are probably from this site, although located only to Closeburn.
The remains consist of an E gable wall 30' long and 3' thick with an arched and moulded doorway, a circular window and a belfry with a 1606 bell. Parts of the N and S walls, 2'6" thick, also remain. There was a N transept.
"Closeburn" was in 1200 "Kylosbern", said to be a commemoration of an English saint, but Osbran was an Irish bishop and anchorite who died in 752.
RCAHMS 1920; W G Collingwood 1926; W J Watson 1926; R Cramp 1961; A E Truckell 1964.
Field Visit (24 May 1912 - 12 June 1912)
Closburn Old Church.
The old church, according to the 'Statistical Account', was rebuilt in 1740 with a north transept: of this building little more than the east gable remains, its place having been taken by a new church built on the south side of the old churchyard in the 19th century. The remaining east gable of the old church is 30 feet wide and the wall is 3 feet thick. It contains a doorway 4 feet wide, and has a semicircular arched head, with moulded archivolt, keystone, and imposts. In the upper part of the wall is a circular window, as a Morton and Dalton, and on the top is a belfry. The remains of the north and south walls are 2 feet 6 inches thick.
BELL. The bell still remains in the belfry, and is inscribed:-
+TREGINTA+DE+AGVST+APVD.POTERRAW
+ANNO+DOMINI+1606
On waist a crown with a hammer below, and letter G on one side, H on the other. Diameter 15 1/2 inches.
The inscription is in two lines, as shown: there are single rims above, below and between these lines. The lower line has smaller lettering. The lettering is very rude and irregular, the n's and the s are reversed, and all the letters, figures and ornaments appear to have been made by marking the mould with a sharp instrument instead of by the use of stamps. The initials are those of George Hog, who cast several bells during the earlier part of the 17th century, including one at Keith Marischal, Haddingtonshire. The hammer and crown are the insignia of the Incorporation of the Hammermen of Edinburgh, and "APUD POTERRAW" in the inscription evidently refers to the street of that name.
BRASS ALMS DISH. In the manse is preserved a brass alms dish 13 inches in diameter, bearing in the centre, in repoussee work, a representation of the Annunciation. It is German work, of probably the 15th century.
FONT FROM DALGARNOCK. In the porch, beneath the tower of the modern church, is the basin of the font of the old church of Dalgarnock. It is a plain octagonal basin, with a drain in the bottom, 2 feet 3 inches in diameter over all, 1 foot 9 inches in diameter across the actual basin, 1 foot 3 inches in depth outside and 8 inches inside. The name "Dalgarno" has been cut on the edge in modern lettering.
CROSS-SHAFT, etc. Beside the font lies a fragment of a cross-shaft, with two vertical panels of interlaced work formed from a four-cord plait. A fine beak-head, evidently from the cornice of a church of the later Norman period, is also preserved here.
RCAHMS 1920, visited by 24 May and 12 June 1912
OS 6 inch map xxxi.SE
Field Visit (9 June 1975)
The remains are generally as described. There is no evidence of any Norman work.
Visited by OS (SFS) 9 June 1975
Aerial Photography (October 1996)
Visible on air photograph, (OS 75/085/080-1, flown 1975).
Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), October 1996.
