Old Kirkcudbright Kirk And Graveyard

NX18SW 3 11684 83835

(NX 1168 8383) Old Kirkcudbright (NR) (Remains of)

OS 6" map (1957)

The remains of the former parish church, dedicated to St Cuthbert and on record in 1275, standing within its grave-yards whose walls can be traced as 'baulks' on the north and east. The remains indicate that the church measured about 100 feet by 35 feet and they consist of walls 2 feet 8 inches thick now surviving as turf-covered footings for most of the circuit but reaching a height of 10 feet on the north and 5 feet on the east. Twenty feet from the west end of the church are the remains of a wall whose return is built up against but not bonded into the SW corner of the church. The turf-covered remains of the grave-yard wall are slightly over 1 foot high, and there is an enigmatic oval baulk in the north angle of the enclosure.

The church was abandoned in 1617 when the parish centre was moved to Ballantrae (see NX08SE 4) but two relatively recent gravestones indicate that the grave-yard continued in use. Though the present remains probably date from the 15th century, the dedication suggests an origin possibly in the 7th to 8th centuries.

K G White and K M White 1960; I B Cowan 1967

The remains of the church and grave-yard are generally as described by the previous authorities. The farmer at Kirkholm knows the site as 'Kirkholm Church' but he has heard it referred to as 'Olk Kirkcudbright'.

Revised at 1:2500.

Visited by OS (JD) 23 July 1956 and (WDJ) 3 December 1970

The remains of this church are as described and in a reasonably stable condition.

Visited by OS (JRL) 28 March 1977