Description

1737 (utilising old foundations and incorporating earlier fabric), restoration and additions in 1886. Cross-plan church with S transept (Blackadder vault, currently closed from main body of church) and gallery to N transept. Roughly squared and snecked sandstone with broadly-droved ashlar dressings; later additions stugged sandstone ashlar. Chamfered margins.

S ELEVATION: 4-bay. Tudor-arched window with gabled dormerhead above eaves course to each bay, except bay to inner left. Gabled projection in bay to inner left (Blackadder vault) with panelled door at ground and point-arched window above; diagonal buttresses to SW and SE corners with ashlar plaque to head of each inscribed "Repaired by Sir John Home of Blackadder Baronet in the year 1696" to SE with base and canopy formerly with statue of saint, now empty, 1996; "Founded by Robert Blackadder Archbishop of Glasgow in the year 1499" to SW (now weathered and illegible), with eroded coat of arms below; window to outer right of E return and to centre of W return elevation.

E ELEVATION: gabled with Tudor-arched cusp-traceried window; ashlar cruciform finial to apex.

W ELEVATION: similar to E elevation, except with ashlar 2-stage corbelled bellcote at apex.

N ELEVATION: complex arrangement. 5-bay. Gabled projection to centre with deep-set 2-leaf point-arched boarded door with hoodmould at ground; small Tudor-arched windows flanking; rose window to gablehead above; diagonal buttresses, with inscribed stone to NE buttress: "Restored and enlarged 1886". Window at ground and Tudor-arched window breaking eaves with gabled dormerhead at 1st floor above, to each return elevation. Gabled projection (of earlier period of building) set back from central projection, to each inner bay with long Tudor- arched window, each with Tudor-arched window at 1st floor breaking eaves with gabled dormerhead to return elevation. Gabled porch to NE re-entrant angle, bay to outer left with Tudor-arched boarded door and diagonal buttress to NE. Monopitch single storey addition to NW re-entrant angle, bay to outer right, with boarded door to right with Tudor-arched window to left; window to W return elevation.

Coloured border-glazed timber windows; some 12-pane timber sash and case windows. Slate roof with ashlar coped skews and skew corbels; ashlar finials to gableheads; terracotta ridge tiles. 2 fishscale slate pyramidal-roofed vents to principal body of church and to 1886 projection, with cast-iron finial to each.

INTERIOR: entrance to N transept. Gallery and organ loft to N end of N transept; clock to panelled timber parapet with trefoil-pierced frieze. 2 aisles to N transept. Timber-frames organ with ornamentally painted pipes, gifted by Evelyn Houston Boswell in memory of her mother, Lady Euphemia Houston Boswell, who died in December 29 1882; manufactured by Wadsworth of Manchester and Aberdeen. S transept closed off with timber panelling and timber tracery to glass above (see Blackadder Vault). Oak gothic-style communion table to centre, S (with chairs, formerly in Allanton Free Church, in memory of the Rev and Mrs Blades); pine pulpit with stairs flanking with pierced floral motifs, and point-arched timber back panel. Pine pews with brass umbrella stands. Scissor-trussed roof. Cast-iron columns to N transept. Font dated 1885; ashlar octagonal with octagonal pedestal and shaft; "Suffer little children to come unto me" carved to bowl lip. 7 wall memorials; written texts on panels. Vestry to NW with timber chimneypiece and cast-iron grate; communion table and chair in vestry used in parish church prior to present table and chairs. BLACKADDER VAULT: access through external door to S of S transept. Present partition with church put up in 1970s. 1499, part of the old building; commissioned

by Robert Blackadder, Archbishop of Glasgow; dedicated to Our Lady and

St John the Baptist; altered by Sir John Home of Blackadder in 1696. Vault to basement level with large slab memorials with names of those listed on memorials in aisle to ground floor above. Ashlar tomb of Patrick Home of Broomhouse and his 3rd wife in NE corner of vault- rectangular sarcophagus with inscription to side of slab (see Binnie), surmounted by 2 full-length effigies of couple, man in knight's armour, dated 1553. Stair to SE leading to: S AISLE: at ground. 6 wall tablets to members of Houston and Houston Boswell families, earliest dating from 1812. Particularly fine ashlar tablet with green marble surround and gilt-painted carved writing in memory of Sir George Reginald Houston Boswell who died in 1915, during active service in the 1st World War, to W wall. KELLOE VAULT: under N aisle; closed off during alterations of 1886.

GRAVEYARD: LOGAN VAULT: W of W transept; harl-pointed sandstone rubble with concrete roof; incorporating chevron-carved Norman arch of original church (probably removed during rebuilding of church in 1737), to E elevation, as entrance arch. 3 memorial stones, earliest dating from 1790. Barrel-vaulted interior. Slate gravestone abutting N elevation dedicated to John Logan (d 1812) and his wife Elizabeth

(d 1829); further gravestones to N of tomb. CAMPBELL SWINTON (OF KIMMERGHAME) MONUMENT: to W end of graveyard. Ashlar U-plan classical monument with base course, pilasters, fluted frieze, modillioned cornice and blocking course with broken segmental pediment with Coat of Arms to centre. Dedicatory plaques between pilasters. FORDYCE BUCHAN (OF KELLOE) MONUMENT: abutting Campbell Swinton monument to N side. Jacobean-style ashlar monument; base course, ridge-coping; Coat of Arms to centre with stepped gablehead above; 3 dedicatory panels below. Various other impressive gravestones and monuments, including large red sandstone monument to E boundary with round-arched niche containing obelisk to centre (much weathered) and Palladian-inspired monument adjacent to N of ashlar with broken pediment to centre with round- arched recess to centre with marble plaque dedicated to memory of Colin Campbell MacKay of Bighouse (1776-1841), flanked by walls with round- arched recesses with dedicatory stones inset. Red sandstone gravestone with weathered inscription, from 1669 onwards, to SE of Blackadder vault. Number of other early gravestones.

HEARSE HOUSE AND GATEPIERS: positioned to N of sandstone drum piers, with timber 2-leaf vehicular gates. Rectangular-plan early 19th century rubble building with stugged ashlar dressings; 2-leaf boarded door with timber lintel to N elevation. Slate roof with ashlar coped skews.

Statement of Interest

The church was dedicated to Virgin Mary (date unknown). The foundations of the church which had been standing on this site since before 1332 were used in the rebuild in 1737. There has been some confusion in the past as to whether the Norman arch was part of a church founded by Thor Longus in circa 1105. This however seems unlikely as Thor was associated with Ednam, not Edrom.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q12012808

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)