Parish Church, Main Street, Athelstaneford, Athelstaneford, East Lothian

Entry Name: Parish Church, Main Street, Athelstaneford

Listing Name: Athelstaneford, Main Street, Athelstaneford Parish Church with Graveyard and Burial Enclosure.

Listing Date: 19 June 1991

Category: B

Source: Historic Scotland

Source ID: 337845

Historic Scotland Designation Reference: LB6303

Building Class: Cultural

Also known as: Athelstaneford, Main Street, Parish Church

ID on this website: 200337845

Location: Athelstaneford

County: East Lothian

Electoral Ward: Haddington and Lammermuir

Parish: Athelstaneford

Traditional County: East Lothian

Tagged with: Church building

Description

1864, incorporating earlier fabric of 1870. Cruciform plan aligned E-W. Squared and coursed tooled ashlar with cream polished ashlar dressings. Base course, bracketted eaves, cusped dormerhead ventilator in roof.

S ELEVATION: entrance through gabled porch in angle to left of S transept. Ornamented round arched Neo-Norman doorway with nook-shafts, carved panel above with monogram. 3 round arched windows flanking at left with hoodmoulds. 3 light pointed arched window with cusped tracery and hoodmould to trabsept.

N ELEVATION: as above but with boiler-house to W, plain doorway to N.

W ELEVATION: doorway to W gable in gabled porch with ornamented round-arch and nook shafts. 2 small round arched windows flanking in W gable. Glazed bulls eye window above. Corbelled birdcage bellcote to gablehead set diagonally with round-arched detail and pyramidal roof.

E ELEVATION: canted apse with corbelled table and parapet and single lancet window with trefoil tracery adjoining chancel gable; 2-light window to each return, lean-to porch to N.

Stained glass windows.

Grey slates; polygonal roof to apse. Straight skews; cross finial to S. gable. Single wallhead stack to N.

INTERIOR: simple interior, apse recently remodelled. Arch-braced, hammer beam roof. 3 stained glass windows by C E Kempe to S and E, memorials to Kinloch of Gilmerton family.

BURIAL ENCLOSURE: in churchyard to S of Robert Blair (1699-1746) poet, minister 1731-1746. 2 rusticated piers with cornice and ornamental urns, linked by wrought-ironwork incorporating initials RMRB 1746.

Statement of Interest

Church on site since the 12th century. Kinloch of Gilmerton built a new church, manse and school circa 1780; painting by N Cormack hanging at Gilmerton House shows the church in 1811. Church enlargements circa 1868 also financed by Kinloch. Robert Blair the poet, (author of THE GRAVE) and John Home the dramatist (1722-1808) were both former ministers (Duncan). The Saltire is flown continuously in the churchyard, commemorating the legendary association with the flag's origin (King p18).

External Links

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