Abbey St. Bathans
This is one of the most ancient ecclesiastical establishments in Scotland, although, unfortunately, comparatively little is known concerning its history. That a place of such importance should have been allowed to almost entirely disappear, and all but pass from the ken of modern historians, is a testament to how much—or, rather, how amazingly little—interest centers around ecclesiological institutions which had their birth and flourished in ages more remote than the period of transition from Saxon to Norman dominion. An antiquity that stretches so far back, even invading the teens of centuries, deserves a better fate than to sink into unmerited oblivion and fade from our mental vision as if it were but a mere fable, rather than the strong and stable rock on which the visible Church of God on earth is reared.
Obscure and fragmentary as is the history of Abbey St. Bathans, we have evidence of a kind which seems to point to the conclusion that the first religious establishment here was founded as early as the seventh century.
Like all such edifices of that early period, it was rudimentary and entirely void of anything resembling architectural beauty. Indeed, the earliest structure here, it is believed, was simply a hut composed of wood and turf. It stood at a distance of about a quarter of a mile from the church and ancient priory of Abbey St. Bathans, and the field that contains the site has always been known as "The Chapel Field."*
No one now alive recollects the ruins. From time to time, however, in ploughing the field, stones have been turned up that apparently formed part of the building. Thus, the site of the chapel was nearly ascertained, but it was only during the course of draining the field in the summer of 1870 that the foundations were discovered. They have since been fully traced and are now exposed. The building is rectangular, measuring 46 feet, 6 inches in length externally and 38 feet internally, and 21 feet in breadth externally and 15 feet, 6 inches internally.
*It is thus described in the Old Statistical Account (Sir John Sinclair's): "About a quarter of a mile from the nunnery, on the same side of the water, lie the foundations of a small chapel and yard holding that name, but there are no marks of people having buried in it." Sometime later, it seems to have fallen prey to the vandalism of the period and the fatal influence of the "improving laird," for in the New Statistical Account, written about fifty years later, it is stated that "these foundations have now been removed, on account of the obstruction they presented to the operations of agriculture, but the field that contained them is still called the Chapel Field."
The north wall is 3 feet thick; the east and south walls are about 3 feet, 6 inches thick; and the west wall is 5 feet thick. The door was likely in the middle of the west end, but due to the fact that only the foundations remain, and a drain was cut through it before the building’s nature was known, no trace of the door can now be found. In the southern half of this west wall, there is apparently a passage 1 foot, 8 inches wide and about 6 feet long, possibly leading from the doorway. However, it is unclear what its purpose might have been, unless it led to a staircase for a belfry. On the south side, near the west end, is a window 3 feet, 7 inches wide externally, with sides formed of freestone, roughly but well-dressed. Only two courses of these stones and the window sill remain. The sill would have been at ground level. Lime was used in constructing this window, though it seems doubtful if it was used for other parts of the structure. The east end was contracted by a 2-foot wall at each corner to form a small chancel 10 feet wide by 4 feet, 6 inches deep. In front of this chancel lies a flat gravestone, 5 feet, 10 inches long, 1 foot, 8 inches broad at the head (west end), and 1 foot, 5 inches at the foot (east end). The edges of the gravestone have a bevel of about 1.5 inches. This gravestone is shaped differently from most others in the immediate district, which are typically rectangular. There is no inscription or sculpture on it, but it is well-dressed. Tool marks suggest the use of a pick rather than a flat chisel.
In the building, a few dressed stones for lintels were found, along with several fragments of what might have been a font about 2 feet in diameter. Some pieces of oak and large iron nails were also recovered. The wood is decayed on the outside, but the heart of it remains sound and hard.*
In this parish, between the years 1184 and 1200, a priory or nunnery was founded. Dedicated to St. Mary, it was established by Ada, the liberal daughter of William the Lion and wife of Patrick, Earl of Dunbar, to form a convent of Cistercian nuns. Its founders provided generous endowments of lands and revenues. Additionally, it received donations from other benefactors. This nunnery, however, never achieved the opulence of Coldstream or Eccles, which will be discussed later. The nuns of Abbey St. Bathans are believed to have maintained a grange at some distance from the convent. In the thirteenth century, they reached an agreement with the prior of Coldingham to pay him twelve pennies, or a pound of pepper annually, as tithes for hay from a meadow at Bylie.
In 1296, Ada, the prioress, and the nuns of St. Bathans swore fealty to Edward I on August 24th and were subsequently restored by him to their lands and rights.
After the disastrous battle of Halidon Hill in 1333, the prioress and her nuns submitted to Edward and obtained his protection for their house and revenues the following year.*
The priory of St. Bathans is believed to have originally been a cell of South Berwick, though it later became independent. Remains of the convent buildings were visible until the late 18th century, with the last vestiges disappearing about half a century ago.†
Built into the front wall of the present mansion house of Abbey St. Bathans is a stone bearing the following inscription:
DVRVM PATIENTIA FRANCO 1694
This can hardly have any, or, at all events, but a very remote, connection with the priory.
Chalmers' Caledonia.
† Mr. Ferguson.— Hist. Ber. Nat. Club, 1890. Writing in 1860, Mr. J. C. Langlands says:— "There is scarcely anything left at Abbey St. Bathans of the ancient nunnery. Some years ago, part of the doorway was visible within the burial ground, but all vestiges of it have been removed. A small window still remains in the eastern gable of the kirk. It has been partly walled up to hold a common window frame, above which two circular headings may be seen: these have rested in the center on a shaft, dividing the window. Above them, and between them, there was a circular opening, which is now used as a passage for the flue of the stove inside the kirk. The wall is very thick and much splayed, evidently showing that it has been erected outside of the original wall."
$ In the Berwick Journal of June 27th, 1895, Mr. R. H. Henderson, Chirnside, writes:— "To the south and east of the church of St. Bathans lay the gardens of the Priory; this spot has hence been called the 'Precinct Yards.' Around the whole was a walk of three tiers of stones, and on the east side of these gardens was another walk of considerable breadth, bearing the name 'Bishop's Loan.' Why it received this name cannot now be ascertained. It may be conjectured, however, that as the Priory once belonged to David Lindsay, son of the Archbishop of Glasgow, if this dignitary ever resided here, the 'Bishop's Loan' may have been his favorite place of resort for walking. There is some reason to believe that this family did, at one time, reside here. A stone lintel is preserved bearing the inscription Patientia durum frango, and as the chief of the Lindsay family took the motto 'Endure fert,' while two of the cadet branches adopted 'Patientia Vincit,' it is not improbable that this inscription may have been the motto of Prior David Lindsay."
The present church of Abbey St. Bathans occupies a delightfully secluded position close to the right bank of the Whitadder River. This was originally the church of the Priory and was used after the Reformation. Since then, the building has been so extensively altered and curtailed that very little of the original fabric remains. What is now the east wall—24 feet wide by 4 feet thick, and evidently for the most part ancient—is pierced about the middle of the elevation by a round-headed, widely counter-splayed window measuring 8 feet by 2 feet. This window retains its ancient plate tracery in the head, forming a trefoiled termination to each of the two lights into which it has been divided, and displaying a quatre-foiled circle in the space above. The dividing mullion is a restoration. The tracery is more worn and decayed on the internal side, and the splay of the outer sill of the window is much deeper than that of the inner one. There is also an intake on the wall above the window externally.
These somewhat puzzling features suggest that the modern church was built to the west of the original edifice, thus converting its west wall into the eastern gable of the new structure. This view is supported by the fact that, close to the northern extremity of the same wall (on what is now its external side), stones project from its face, as though the wall had originally extended farther to the east.
The lower portion of the north wall of the church is also ancient, and near the west end traces of a blocked semi-circular-headed doorway can be seen. According to the writer of the New Statistical Account, this doorway once communicated with domestic buildings that stood to the north of the church, between it and the River Whitadder.*
The church features a handsome tower, and the interior, though small, is comfortable and adorned with several windows of beautifully stained glass. The pulpit occupies the southeast corner, and nearby, within a modern recess in the east wall, lies a recumbent, full-length effigy of what appears to be a prioress. This interesting and apparently ancient monument had been built into the wall of the church but was removed during renovations several years ago and placed in its current position.
Built into the wall of the church porch is a large stone bearing the following inscription:
"Hire lyes MR George Home, Minister of the Gospel at Abay St Bathens, who departed this life the 22 of September 1705 years his age.
Hire lyes Jean Hamilton spous to the seid Mr George Home, who departed this life the 22 of December 1719 and Mortifyed a 1000 Marks for maintaining a School Master in this place her age 64 years.
Here lyes Ketherine Crucks spous to Ninion Home sone to the said Mr George Home."
A short distance to the east of the church is the Holy Well, or St. Bathan's Well, which bears the following beautiful inscription:
"DEUS ADJUTORIUM MEUM INTENDE" (God, Make Haste to Help Me).
A path near this well is known as "The Pilgrims' Path."
The burial ground surrounding the church contains a few stones dating back to the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, though nothing particularly remarkable in terms of inscriptions. On a small stone, the following words are inscribed:
"Here lyes Elisabeth Smitton, daughter of Walter Smitton, who departed this life on the 1st day of August 1731."
A medium-sized stone, though comparatively modern, is curiously inscribed in very crude lettering as follows:
"Here lyes Thomas Miller who died in December 6th 1778 aged 77 years as also his spouse Isbel Trotter who died in December 24th 1763 aged 85 years as also their son who died January 24th 1762 aged 19 years."
The inscription on a very plain stone, which is the oldest decipherable, reads as follows:
"Here lyes Patrick Johnston who departed this life the 1st day of May 1698 and of his age 45.
Here lyes Jean Moffat, spouse to Patrick Johnston, who departed this life the 11th of April 1723 and of her age 76.
Here lyes Margaret Coun, spouse to James Johnston, who departed this life the 27th of September 1723 and of her age 42."
The following appears on an exceedingly small stone:
"Tod who departed this life the 2nd day of April 1718 and of her age 72 years."
About a mile west of the priory, at Strafontain (Trefontanis), there was another nunnery and chapel, which was also a cell of Berwick. It was founded by David I in 1118. It seems to have been suppressed in the early fifteenth century, and in 1450 the lands were given to the Collegiate Church of Dunglass, to which the church, along with a hospital attached to it, was annexed as a prebend.*
In 1437, there was a "Donatio ecclesiae, seu hospitalis de Lamyria," by John, abbot of Alnwick, to John de Coldstream and the other monks of Dryburgh. This hospital seems to have been delivered to their charge in the year 1436 by Henry, the bishop of St. Andrews.*
Alas! Church, nunnery, hospital, and burial ground have all disappeared. Not a vestige now remains to remind us of their former greatness. Portions of the church and burial ground were still visible at the end of the last century but were entirely removed some years later.
Something of the state of the separate churches in this parish may be gathered from the following report:
"The estate of the Kirks of St. Bothanes and Strafontanes, with the value of the tithes, given up by James Stevinsone and Alexander Robesone on the 18th of June 1627. Communicants: one hundred and forty. The farthest part from the kirk is not two full miles.
The kirks since the Reformation have ever been conjoined and under one ministry.
The kirks are not of one quality, not having one patron.
The Kirk of St. Bothanes, within the precinct of the monastery of old for nuns, has the king's Majesty for patron. The Kirk of Strafontanes, the Earl Hume, it being a pendicle of the collegiate Kirk of Dunglass."*
The following is a list of the ministers who have served in Abbey St. Bathans since 1591:
Matthew Liddell — 1591 to 1608
George Reidpath, M.A. — 1627 to 1628
Sir Lewis Stewart's MS. Col. No. 2.
t Reports on the state of certain parishes in Scotland, from the originals preserved in the General Register House.
ABBEY ST. BATHANS - Ministers List
Thomas Suyntoune, M.A. — 1628 to 1649
George Pollok, M.A. — 1650 to 1663
James Cokburne, M.A. — 1664 to 1674
James Dunbar, M.A. — 1675 to 1681
Robert Bowmaker, M.A. — 1682 to 1697
George Hume, M.A. — 1699 to 1705
George Hume of Abbey, M.A. — 1707 to 1718
James Hall, M.A. — 1719 to 1754*
Alexander Hume — 1755 to 1758
Adam Murray — 1759 to 1774
John Sked — 1774 to 1810
Alexander Anderson — 1813 to 1822
John Wallace — 1823 to 1843t
Thomas Davidson — 1843 to 1873
Peter Christie (present incumbent) — 1873
Notes:
James Hall was suspended for holding a penny wedding in his house, which caused great scandal in the neighborhood!
Source: Scott's Fasti Ledesiae Scoticanae.
John Wallace, after adhering to the Protest, joining in the Free Secession, and signing the Deed of Demission, was declared no longer a minister of this church on 24th May 1843. He was the last member of the Assembly to leave the venerable house during that memorable departure.
*Scott's Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae.
SOURCE: The Churches And Churchyards Of Berwickshire By James Robson 1893, updated 2025 Nathan Zipfel