Description

William Hay of Duns, 1857. Romanesque aisle church standing on levelled terrace above road; tower at entrance with squat broach spire, lower chancel at E end and meeting room at W end forming L-plan. Burial ground to E. Cream squared, snecked and stugged sandstone. Round-headed windows with channelled moulding around upper half, chamfered cills.

TOWER: to W bay of S side. 2 stages. Simple roll-moulded Romanesque doorway to S; paired flanking columns with cushion capitals, chevron moulding to inner arch. Coped base course rises to impost level; window immediately above to W, lighting stair to gallery. 2nd stage with paired louvred windows to each outer face. Massive machicolated parapet. Very squat broach spire with lead flashing and fishscale slates; wrought-iron weathervane finial.

S ELEVATION: 6-bay nave with tower advancing from left bay (W end projects beyond); windows to each 5 bays of aisle; shallow clerestorey with 2 rectangular windows slotted between roof of aisle and eaves. Lower 3-bay chancel set back to E, with windows to each bay. Set back to left, half-gable of meeting room, with large round-headed stop-chamfered doorway and 2-leaf boarded door.

E ELEVATION: 3-light window with perpendicular tracery in hoodmoulded 2-centred arch to projecting gable of chancel, cross finial; gable of nave above. Blank return of S aisle to left; to right, half-gable of vestry with cat-slide roof in re-entrant angle with aisle; boarded door and window. Set back to right, blank wall of organ housing.

N ELEVATION: from left: chancel and vestry blank; 3 bays of aisle with 2 clerestorey windows as above; advanced blank gable of organ housing; slightly less advanced gable of meeting room with central window, apex stack, and sheds attached at ground.

W ELEVATION: gable end of nave at centre with tall window at ground and small rectangular window to right; rose window in gablehead and cross finial. Advanced to left, 3-bay meeting room with windows to each bay; set back to right W face of tower (see above).

Diamond-pane leaded windows. Grey slates with bands of fish-scale slates to S faces, lead flashing; triangular ashlar coping to skews, corbelled gablet skewputts.

INTERIOR: Romanesque theme continues with round-headed arches; stugged cream sandstone, polished dressings; boarded doors with elaborate wrought-iron hinges. Base of tower has stair with solid arcaded balustrade to choir loft. 4-bay arcaded nave with plain pillars with cushion capitals; arch to choir loft with balustrade as above (now enclosed by glazing); tall arch to chancel. Chancel with painted and stencilled panelled ceiling with gothic mouldings; stained glass window (the Crucifixion - in memory of Sir James Miller d. 1906) with alabaster reredos below. Plain arcaded pulpit with arcaded panelling. Solid 2-tier font; 1st tier of pillars (as above), 2nd tier of blind interlaced arcading. Stained glass to some side windows. Organ by

Harrison & Harrison 1878 and 1927.

STEPS, BOUNDARY WALL, GATES AND LAMP STANDARD: whinstone boundary wall with stugged sandstone dressings; 2 openings with wrought-iron gates lead to unified pair of steps to 1st terrace; further set of steps with cast-iron handrails to main entrance. Cast-iron standard for glazed lamp at 1st steps, with wrought-iron sign.

BURIAL GROUND: includes white marble enclosure with graves and monuments of the Millers of Manderston; Sir James Miller's memorial cross by G F Bodley.

Statement of Interest

Ecclesiastical building in use as such. The design was based upon a church seen by Hay on the banks of the Rhine while on a sketching holiday. Hay was the owner of Duns Castle and had the superiority of Duns. He was a keen amateur artist/architect and patron of Gillespie Graham. The rear elevations of the (later?) organ housing have recently have render removed. As well as those of the Millers, including Sir James, the burial ground has graves of the Hays of Duns Castle, several Douglas-Homes and the Trotters of Mortonhall.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17850863

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

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  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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