Bassendean
The date of the original church of Bassendean cannot be determined. It likely was never a place of great ecclesiastical importance, though it was served by a vicar long before the Reformation. It belonged to Coldingham and was dedicated to the Virgin.
A considerable portion of the old Roman Catholic chapel—used as such prior to the Reformation—still exists. Its remains, along with those of the churchyard, occupy a grassy knoll three miles south of Westruther and about a mile from the village of Houndslow. The structure was a plain rectangular building, measuring 54½ feet long by about 20 feet wide externally. The walls, 3 feet thick, remain to a height of about 11 feet, although both gables are missing. The north-east and west walls lack decorative details, while the south wall features a doorway approximately 16 feet from its western end and two square-headed windows spaced 11½ feet apart.
The doorway is a simple bevel-edged opening, measuring 6 feet high by 3 feet 3 inches wide. The windows, more elaborately constructed, have widely counter-splayed jambs with a double splay externally—the outer plain and the inner narrower and fluted. Internally, the windows display a combination of plain and molded chamfer orders, including an edge roll flanked by two hollows. The lights were positioned near the center of the wall. The westernmost window is 3½ feet high by 1 foot 8 inches wide and consists of one light, while the other window was originally divided into two lights by a mullion, now broken. Based on the moldings, the windows appear to date from the Second Pointed period but were evidently altered and reduced in size at a later date. The molded jambs are partially obscured by rough masonry on the inside.
It is not possible to definitively ascertain the age of this building. Several features suggest a pre-Reformation origin. In the south wall, a small rectangular niche or recess may have served as a receptacle for a holy water stoup, as noted by Mr. Ferguson. Elsewhere in the interior, there are an ambery and a niche that may have housed a piscina. The remains of a baptismal font, broken into two pieces, lie among loose stones and debris. This font is a plain specimen with the usual perforation at its base.
An old sepulchral slab forms the lintel of a window and features carvings of a sword and a star within a circle. Another stone bears a Maltese cross enclosed in a circle, with a pair of shears below. A plain stone standing against the interior wall is inscribed:
"D . M . M . I . D .
A.D. E.G. B.C.
1750."
Another stone reads:
"1763 July."
The faint outline of a wall that once enclosed the churchyard is still visible. Only two or three small fragments of the wall remain, and these are so mutilated that identifying their original sacred function is challenging.
SPOTTISWOOD lies about two miles southwest of Westruther. Here, during the reign of David II. (1329–1370), John de Spottiswoode built a chapel called Whitechapel, which was subordinate to the church of Hume.* The ruins of this chapel were entirely removed when the ground was cleared to construct the present offices of Spottiswood, around the beginning of the 19th century.† The only relic still preserved is the old baptismal font.
At Wedderley, a mile north of Westruther, there was formerly a chapel, also subordinate to Hume. During the reign of William the Lion (1165–1214), Gilbert, son of Adam of Hume, gifted the chapel of Wedderley to the monks of Kelso, along with ten acres of land and pasture for sheep and cattle.‡ Of this chapel, no trace remains. A ruined vault associated with it existed as late as 1834 and is still remembered by some older residents of the district.
The present church of Westruther, located a few yards from the site of the old church, is a modern structure, built approximately 50 years ago. It is a neat and substantial edifice, though it presents no features of special architectural interest.
A communion cup belonging to Westruther is inscribed:
"CALIX EUCHARISTICUS ECCLESI^ PABOCHIALIS WESTRUTHER-ENSIS. A.D. 1718."
Ministers of Westruther Since 1574:
Ninian Borthwick — 1574 to (unknown)
Thomas Storie — 1597 to (unknown)
John Vetche, M.A. — 1648 to 1662
(Unknown) — 1662 to (unknown)
John Vetche, M.A. (reinstated) — 1680 to 1680 (a few months)
George Wilsone — 1683 to 1690
John Vetche, M.A. (reinstated again) — 1690 to 1702
Walter Scott, M.A. — 1704 to 1737
Francis Scott — 1738 to 1781
William Shiels, M.A. — 1782 to 1813
John Shiels — 1813 to 1819
John Birrell, M.A. — 1819 to 1825
William Fleming — 1826 to 1829
Robert Jamieson — 1830 to 1837
Walter Wood, M.A.* — 1838 to 1843
Henry Taylor, D.D. — 1844 to 1896
John Muirhead, B.D. (present incumbent) — 1896
Free Church of Westruther:
The Free Church in this parish is a beautiful and durable edifice, erected in 1854 (the second church built since the Disruption). The present minister is Robert Arthur, M.A., who was settled in 1888.
SOURCE: The Churches And Churchyards Of Berwickshire By James Robson 1893, updated 2025 Nathan Zipfel