Ladykirk.
The parish of Ladykirk encompasses the older parishes of Upsetlington and Horndean.
The church currently in use is a fascinating structure with a peculiar and romantic origin. According to tradition, James IV, while crossing a ford in the Tweed nearby with his army, found himself in peril of being swept away by the swollen current. In his distress, he prayed earnestly to the Virgin Mary for deliverance, vowing that if he were saved, he would erect a church in her honor. The church, thus built in fulfillment of this vow, was named Ladykirk.
The church has a cruciform plan, consisting of an aisleless nave with a tower at the west end, a chancel with a semi-hexagonal termination, and north and south transepts or transeptal chapels, similar in form to the chancel. Internally, the nave measures 41 feet 8 inches in length by 23 feet 3 inches in width; the chancel is 36 feet long and of the same width as the nave; the internal projection of the chapels is 15 feet 10 inches and 16 feet 4 inches, respectively. The architectural style is far from pure, reflecting the inclination toward First-Pointed forms characteristic of the late phases of Scottish Gothic.
The exterior walls are adorned with nineteen buttresses, each topped with carved figures, though many of these have been worn down by time and neglect. Two string courses run around the building just above the basement level. The upper course is rounded on top, while the lower slopes outward, both featuring concave profiles beneath. A projecting cornice with a hollow underside runs along the top of the walls beneath the eaves.
Most of the windows are plain, lancet-shaped openings divided into two pointed lights by a nominal branching at the top. The exception is the east window of the chancel, which is wider and divided into three lights by two mullions, branching and intersecting at the top. Three primary windows in the south wall differ in style, being wide, elliptical-headed openings containing three pointed lights each. The exterior jambs of all windows feature two plain-chamfered outer orders and a hollow-chamfered tracery order inside. The interior jambs have a plain splay with a quirked edge-roll extending around the rear arch. Above each window, except for one in the north wall of the nave, is a label or dripstone terminating in rudely sculpted heads.
There are three entrances to the church. The principal doorway is located at the west end of the south wall of the nave. This round-headed entrance has jambs composed of two continuous filleted rolls separated by a wide hollow. The upper string course described earlier is carried around the head as a dripstone. The opening is 8 feet high to the crown of the arch and 5 feet wide. Another smaller doorway leads into the chancel through its south wall, featuring a single continuous filleted roll in the jambs, with the dripstone formed by the upper string course. The third doorway, located in the north wall of the nave, is now concealed externally by a recently constructed building housing the church's heating apparatus. A blocked doorway in the wall of the south transept appears to be a modern addition.
The tower has four stages, with the three lower stages vaulted internally and marked externally only by small rectangular chamfered openings on the west face. The upper stage, added in 1743, is modern and surmounted by a four-sided dome with a belfry above—a feature incongruous with the rest of the edifice. A wide, square-headed doorway on the west side of the tower provides access to the ground stage, while a newel stair in a turret between the north wall of the tower and the west wall of the nave allows ascent to the upper stages.
The interior, though somewhat impressive, is notably plain. The pointed vault is minimally adorned, with only a series of transverse ribs in the nave and chancel, as well as shorter diagonal ribs at the eastern and lateral extremities. All ribs are broadly chamfered and rest on molded corbels. The arches opening into the transepts consist of two chamfered orders rising from capitaled responds with debased moldings. These features, though likely faithful reproductions, are modern restorations. The walls above the transepts are carried beyond the roofline, forming gables that terminate the roofs at their inner ends—an unusual, if not unique, architectural feature.*
On the interior western gable is a marble slab inscribed:
"D. O. M.
Hanc ædem beatæ Virgin! Mariæ
Sacram ab inclyto
Jacobo quarto Scotorum rege
Anno post Christum natum
M.D. Extructam at deinde
Temporis vetustate accolarumque
Incuria collapsam etiam
Pene ruinis involutam jam tandem
Fundus parochialis domini, sua
Pecunia instaurandam curarunt
Denique campanili addito Guliel-
Mus Robertson a Ladykirk
Orandam curavit.
MDCCXLIIL
Restituta MDCCCLXI."
—Mr. Ferguson, Hist. Ber. Nat. Club, 1890.
Mr. Ferguson's description of the architectural features of this church is given at considerable length. It possesses special value as Ladykirk was one of the last pre-Reformation churches erected in Scotland and is still substantially unimpaired.
The latter date, 1861, refers to the renovation of the church—clearing out the partitions and furnishings of the portion used as the parish school, cleaning the entire walls, reseating, and heating.
Immediately beneath the Latin inscription is a brass plate with the following inscription, penned by the late Lady Marjory Marjoribanks of Ladykirk:
"The clock in the tower of this church was given by the Right Honourable Marianne Sarah Robertson Baroness Marjoribanks of Ladykirk in grateful remembrance of, and thankfulness for, many mercies and blessings vouchsafed to and enjoyed by her during her possession of the estate, and also in thankful commemoration of the 14th day of October, 1881, when, amidst a windstorm of unusual severity, disastrous in its effects to persons and property both on sea and on land, and appalling to all people, a merciful Providence was graciously pleased to protect this parish and its inhabitants by the preservation of human life within its bounds. 1882."
A curious old oak chest stands in the south transept, richly carved and bearing inscriptions on its upper surface and one side.
Around the top margin are these words:
"It is more blessed to give than to receive. God's worst is better than the world's best."
On the inner surface, forming the two longer sides of a rectangle, are the words:
"Saynt Nycholas."
"Liverpool."
In the central space enclosed by the rectangle is the following:
"Man shal not live by bread alone but by everie worde that procedeth out of the mouth of ye Lord."
On the front side, along the upper margin:
"16 1 Edward Williamson's gift to ye trulye poore and aged of ys Psh | 51."
Along the lower margin:
"My trust is in God alone."
In the space between these marginal readings:
"I was hungrie and ye gave me meat. I was thirstie and ye gave me drink. A stranger and ye tooke me in, naked ye clothed me. I was sick and ye visited me."
This old oak chest was placed in Ladykirk Church on 23rd October 1885, as a gift from Lady Marjoribanks of Ladykirk. A year or two later, a lengthened correspondence arose, originating in Liverpool, between the churchwardens of St. Nicholas Church, Liverpool, and the Rev. William Dobie, minister of Ladykirk. The Antiquary, Liverpool Mercury, and even The Scotsman participated in the discussion about whether the chest was "original" or a "copy."
No definitive conclusion has yet been reached. For the time being, the subject has been dropped. While the churchwardens of Liverpool and The Antiquary argue the chest is "a lie in oak" and should be burned, visitors are divided in opinion. However, the minister of Ladykirk maintains that, regardless of whether it is the original or a "modern antique," the chest is worthy of preservation. He intends to preserve it, if only because it was purchased for and gifted to the church by the now-deceased Lady Marjoribanks of Ladykirk, whose memory he cherishes with sincere affection.
On an inlaid stone inserted in the exterior wall above the chancel door, the following inscription is engraved:
"D. O. M.
Jacobus Scotorum quartus rex teudam.
Tuto quum transuisset hanc aedem votam
Marine Virgin! ad deum unum solumque
Spiritu veritateque colendum
Millesimo quingentesimo annoque jubilaeo fundavit."*
There are pits on the freestone wall of Ladykirk Church, which some attribute to the effects of weathering, while others suggest they are marks from stray artillery missiles fired from Norham Castle. The latter explanation seems plausible.
In the churchyard, nothing remarkable has yet been uncovered. The older stones are so weathered that their inscriptions are indecipherable.
"The above record," says Rev. William Dobie, minister of the parish, "is not older than the present (19th) century."
Rev. Dobie also notes:
"There is evidence above the main south door, on the outside, that a tablet had been inserted there at some time, but the tablet, with whatever it might have told, has long ago entirely disappeared. Similarly, above the north door, directly facing Scotland, there is evidence that a tablet had once been placed there. Tradition holds that the Royal Arms of Scotland, decorated with the Order of the Garter, were carved on this now-lost stone. It is well documented that Henry VII of England complimented James IV of Scotland with the Order of the Garter. This was highly appropriate given the circumstances, as James was about to marry Margaret Tudor, Henry's elder daughter, on the 8th of August, 1503. This union, in its consequences, led to the unification of the crowns of England and Scotland in 1603."
These lines appear on a large stone erected to the memory of two children:
"Ere sin could blight or sorrow fade,
Death came with friendly care,
The opening bud to Heaven conveyed,
And bade it blossom there."
On a small, plain stone, the oldest legible in the churchyard, this inscription is found:
"Here lyes the body of Patrick Blair who died November 7, 1738, his age 37 years."
The ancient parish of Upsetlington, now part of Ladykirk, likely existed in the 12th century. Its earliest mention dates to 1296, when Henry de Strivelin, parson of Upsetlington, swore fealty to Edward I at Berwick. By 1327, Abraham Crichton was rector of Upsetlington.
The supplementary treaty of Chateau Cambresis, signed on May 31, 1559, between Francis and Mary, King and Queen of Scotland, and Elizabeth, Queen of England, was ratified in the ancient church of Saint Mary of Upsetlington.
About a quarter mile north of the hamlet of Upsetlington lies the site of the "Rectoria de Upsetlington," referenced in the tax roll of St. Andrews as "Saint Mary's Church of Upsetlington." The only remnant, a weather-worn block of stone, rests near the slope leading to the Tweed.
Near the ancient village site was St. Mary’s Well, whose water still flows into the ravine below. In the early 19th century, a watering trough for cattle was erected near the site by William Robertson, Esq., bearing the inscription:
"Well of St. Mary of Upsetlington."
Nearby stands a square pillar, about ten feet high, inscribed "Ann's Well."
The ancient parish of Horndean was also part of Ladykirk. The chapel of Horndean is mentioned as early as the mid-12th century. During this time, William de Vetereponte acquired the manor of Horndean and transferred the chapel to the monks of Kelso. This grant was confirmed by Bishop Hugh of St. Andrews, who ruled from 1177 to 1188.
In 1243, Bishop David de Bernham dedicated the "Eccl. de Hornerden" on April 4.
A hospital was founded at Horndean in the 12th century by Robert Byset, owner of the manor of Upsetlington. Dedicated to St. Leonard, the hospital provided shelter for two poor individuals placed by the donor or his heirs. It also maintained a chaplain to celebrate divine service in the chapel. By the late 13th century, the hospital, under the monks of Kelso, included 16 acres of land, a fishing area in the Tweed, and a park within the manor of Upsetlington.*
No trace remains of the hospital of St. Leonard in the same parish. However, a charter by Robert Byseth, Lord of Upsetlington, conferring it on Kelso Abbey, indicates that it stood between Horndean and the Tweed—juxta Twede ex opposite de Horwerden.
Horndean ceased to exist as a separate parish around the year 1576.
The old burial ground of Horndean is situated in the center of an open field, about 200 paces from the Tweed. It is enclosed by a low, broken-down wall. Approximately twenty old stones are scattered around in a neglected condition, with sheep and cattle freely accessing the area. Unless measures are taken soon to protect these sacred memorials, it is feared that they will soon disappear entirely. Due to their ruined and fragmented state, only one seventeenth-century stone has a partially legible inscription. It is a large horizontal stone bearing the following:
"Heir • lys • George • Bell • 1663 • and • Besi • Brekentn • his • wife • 1658."
On a very small stone:
"Heir lais the body of Gorg Park ci who died Meay 17 and Brak who deid Mearch 2 1745."
On a medium-sized stone:
"Here layes the body of Peter Brown who died March 10 1741. His age 28 years."
A small stone, with beautifully and exquisitely chiseled sculpture work, is inscribed:
"Heir • lyes • the • corps • of • Willeam • Cunningham • mason • in • Horendon • who • died • March • th 3 • 1753 • his • age • 50 • years."
On a small stone:
"Here * lyes • the • body * of • Mergret • Cunningham • spous • to • William • Frisken • who • died • May • th 12 • 1743 • aged • 61."
On a very small stone, almost illegible:
"Here lyes the body of James Henderson who deid Apr. . . 1716."
Ministers of Ladykirk Since 1576:
Andrew Winsister (1576–1585)
John Home (1607–unknown)
David Hume, M.A. (1635–1650)
William Craufurd, M.A. (1651–1690)
William Gullan (1694–1697)
Samuel Kilpatrick, M.A. (1697–1711)
George Ridpath, M.A. (1712–1740)
John Todd (1741–1786)
Thomas Mill (1788–1800)
George Todd (1801–1819)
George Home Robertson (1819–1842)
William A. Corkindale (1842–1845)
John Stevenson, D.D. (1855–1859)
William Dobie (present incumbent, 1859)
At Horndean, there is a United Presbyterian Church, built in 1786 and enlarged in 1812. The current minister is James F. G. Orr, M.A., settled in 1896.
SOURCE: The Churches And Churchyards Of Berwickshire By James Robson 1893, updated 2025 Nathan Zipfel