Lauder, Castle Hill, Church
Church (13th Century)
Site Name Lauder, Castle Hill, Church
Classification Church (13th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Thirlestane Castle Policies
Canmore ID 55889
Site Number NT54NW 6
NGR NT 5328 4791
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/55889
- Council Scottish Borders, The
- Parish Lauder
- Former Region Borders
- Former District Ettrick And Lauderdale
- Former County Berwickshire
NT54NW 6 5328 4791.
(NT 5328 4791) Church (NR) (site of)
OS 6" map (1968)
A sycamore tree about 60 yds from the W front of Thirlestane Castle marks the site of the pre-Reformation church. It was removed in 1673, when the present church was built (at NT 5309 4752). Several tombstones were also removed to the present churchyard at the same time. In 1827, when the drainage through Thirlestane Castle grounds was being overhauled, a stone vault, containing several skeletons, was discovered.
A Thomson 1903
Richard de Morville built a church near Castle Hill in the 12th c. It stood a little W of the N wing of Thirlestane Castle, and was built in the shape of a cross. It appears on Blaeu's map of 1654.
R Romanes 1903; W M'Conachie 1913.
NT 5326 4791. The site of the old church was pointed out by a gardener who has worked on the estate for about forty years. No remains are now visible, and no further information was obtained.
Visited by OS (JD) 18 February 1955
Sited at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (WDJ) 25 September 1962.
Publication Account (1980)
The original parish church of Lauder stood about half a mile from the town, a little to the west of the north wing of Thirlstane Castle. The advowson of the church was given by David I to the de Morevilles and later the church was granted to Dryburgh Abbey. As far back as 1220 a triangular dispute arose regarding the tithes of Lauder Church, between the bishop of Glasgow, Kil winning Abbey and Dryburgh. It flared up again in 1248 and Pope Innocent removed the parish priest of Lauder from his office, while granting to Dryburgh and the canons of the same monastery the church of Lauder with everything belonging to that same church. The dispute was still simmering twenty years when the deposed parish priest of Lauder died, still apparently refusing to give way. The church was served by a priest of nearby Channelkirk parish, who was to be paid a special stipend for serving two parishes (Manuel, 1922, 129, 130, 131). As early as 1606 Parliament had sanctioned the moving of the site of the kirk from the precincts of the castle to a more convenient site in the town, but it was not until the 1670s that this was actually carried out.
Information from ‘Historic Lauder: The Archaeological Implications of Development’ (1980).
Sbc Note (21 March 2016)
Visibility: This was the site of an archaeological monument, which may no longer be visible.
Information from Scottish Borders Council
