COLDINGHAM
In this parish, there were two distinct monastic institutions: that of St. Ebba's, founded in the seventh century, and that of Coldingham proper, founded in the eleventh century. Taking these in chronological order, St. Ebba's monastery is addressed first. Its great antiquity and the romantic story of its origin make St. Ebba's a site of special and abiding interest.
This monastery, situated on the lofty promontory of St. Abb's Head, was founded in the year 670 by Princess Ebbe (or Ebba), daughter of King Ethelfrid and sister of Eanfrid, Oswald, and Oswin, who were successively kings of Bernicia. The story goes that the pagan king of Mercia, or Mid-England, sought Princess Ebbe's hand in marriage. To escape his advances, she left Northumberland, intending to seek refuge in East Anglia. However, during her voyage, her small vessel was driven ashore by a storm, and she landed in a little creek on the Berwickshire coast, at a place now known as St. Abb's Head.
This bold, dark-coloured headland rises almost perpendicularly, 306 feet above the German Ocean. Finding the location suitable and near the place of her miraculous deliverance, Princess Ebbe resolved to establish a convent in commemoration of the event and in gratitude to God. She became the convent's first abbess.
The religious house at St. Ebba's was unusual for its time, as it housed both monks and nuns. However, strict discipline prevented any interaction between the sexes. Determined to raise the monastery to a high moral standard, the abbess sought the guidance of St. Cuthbert, whose piety and miraculous works at the monastery of Melrose were widely renowned. St. Cuthbert visited St. Ebba's and, during his brief stay, exerted a profound spiritual influence on the monastery and its residents.
In the year 679, the monastery was consumed by fire—a calamity seen not only as a result of negligence but also as divine judgment for the dissolute habits of its residents. In 870, it suffered again when the Danes plundered and destroyed it. On this occasion, the abbess, in a desperate attempt to preserve the chastity of the nuns, persuaded them to disfigure and mutilate their faces. This act enraged the invaders, who burned the buildings and massacred the inhabitants.
This event marked the end of St. Ebba's convent, as there is no record of its reconstruction. Its two centuries of existence, though brief, were marked by periods of spiritual fervor and calamity. The original buildings, like most ecclesiastical structures of the era, were likely made of timber and were undoubtedly quite rudimentary.
Today, on the site of St. Ebba's convent, the foundations of what appears to have been a chapel are still visible. However, it is highly improbable that these belong to the original convent. It is more likely that they are remnants of a chapel subordinate to the Priory of Coldingham, erected many years after St. Ebba's was demolished in 870.
Two miles south of St. Abb's Head is Coldingham Priory, an institution of much later date than St. Ebba's. To avoid confusion, it is essential to distinguish between the two: St. Ebba's monastery, founded in 670, was extinct long before Coldingham Priory was established in 1098. The priory was not an offshoot or continuation of the former monastery.
The priory of Coldingham was founded by Edgar, King of Scots, son of Malcolm Canmore. Having been driven from his throne by a usurper, Edgar sought refuge in England, where William Rufus provided him with an army of 30,000 men to reclaim his kingdom. According to Fordun, during Edgar's march to Scotland, St. Cuthbert appeared to him in a vision, assuring him of divine protection. The saint instructed Edgar to take a consecrated banner from the convent of Durham and carry it before his troops, promising that his enemies would be vanquished.
Edgar obeyed the vision, following the advice of his uncle, Edgar Atheling. The Abbot of Durham presented him with the banner, and Edgar, emboldened by faith, crossed the Tweed and successfully re-established his power. In gratitude, he founded the monastery of Coldingham, dedicating it to the Virgin Mary. As a further gesture of thanks to St. Cuthbert, he gifted the monastery and its lands to the Benedictine monks of Durham.
Source: William Brockie, "A Brief Sketch of the History of the Priory of Coldingham."
Several authorities, including Mr. Brockie, maintain that a religious house existed in this area many centuries before the foundation established by King Edgar in 1098. Evidence supporting this theory suggests that, during the restoration of the priory in 1857, workmen uncovered foundation walls thought to belong to this earlier structure. Referring to these remains, another authority, Mr. King Hunter, in his History of the Priory, states:
"The whole extent of these foundations was distinctly traceable; and this part of the building appears, in the original as in the later erection, to have formed the church of the monastery, but stretching a few feet further towards the south than the more recent structure. With the exception of the east end, it is of the same form—namely, an oblong square, of somewhat similar dimensions to the later priory. The east end consisted of a circular projection or apse, in all probability used as the chancel. The stone is of the same description as that used in the construction of the priory, reddish in color and believed to have been quarried at Greenheugh in the parish of Cockburnspath, the nearest known source of such stone."
Mr. Hunter provides extensive arguments to support the existence of this early building. However, his evidence appears insufficient to conclusively establish its existence. In the absence of more reliable documentary evidence, I tend to agree with Mr. Ferguson, who believes that the old foundations referenced are likely those of King Edgar’s priory.
Coldingham Priory's Endowments and Privileges
King Edgar endowed the priory generously, granting it the entire village of Swinton along with numerous other privileges. He also vested the priors with ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the parishes of Eyemouth, Ayton, Lamberton, Auldcambus, Mordington, Chirnside, Buncle, and possibly others.
The office of prior was not limited to ecclesiastical duties; it carried significant administrative responsibilities. At the height of its influence, the prior had a retinue of 70 functionaries, including an almoner, a master of the horse, a household manager, a guest receiver, a cellar keeper, and a brewer.
Subsequent monarchs also supported the priory. Malcolm IV (1153–1165) extended his patronage, and William the Lion (1165–1214) granted the prior authority to impose heavy penalties on those caught hunting in the woods or moors of Coldinghamshire without permission. To enforce these rights, the prior maintained a salaried forester.
Coldingham Church
The exact foundation date of the church of Coldingham remains uncertain, though it likely followed the establishment of the priory. The earliest documentary reference in the Coldingham chartulary dates to more than a century later. However, in 1127, Robert, Bishop of St. Andrews, granted the church freedom and exemption from all episcopal aids, including Custom, Can, and Cuneved (in Gaelic, Canmhath), meaning "first fruits." The church was a dependency of the monastery, with its advowson vested in the prior and chapter of monks.
In 1292 and 1296, Henry de Horncastre, then prior of Coldingham, along with other clergy of Coldinghamshire, swore fealty to Edward I at Berwick and were reinstated in their offices.
Coldingham Priory in Turbulent Times
During the wars between England and Scotland, Coldingham Priory suffered greatly due to its dual identity as a Scottish institution and a dependency of the English monastery at Durham. This duality exposed it to attacks from both English and Scottish forces.
In the early 15th century, during the regency of the Duke of Albany, the priory came under the protection of Archibald, Earl of Douglas, with the Laird of Home in the Merse serving as its sub-prior. Later, William Douglas, Earl of Angus and Lord of Liddesdale, became the priory’s special protector, receiving a generous salary for his services.
In 1528, the priory was partially destroyed by fire during an English incursion.
In 1488, King James III attempted to suppress the priory. However, powerful barons, including the Homes, the Hepburns, and the Earl of Angus, opposed the king. Their rebellion culminated in his defeat and death at Stirling.
By Act of Parliament in 1504, the priory was annexed to the Crown. In 1509, it ceased to have any connection with Durham and became annexed to the abbey of Dunfermline, under whose jurisdiction it remained until 1560—a year that witnessed the overthrow of all the monasteries in Scotland.
In 1544, the English launched an incursion into the Merse, marching toward Coldingham. They seized the abbey, fortifying both the church and the church tower. The following year, the noble abbey, which had stood for nearly 500 years, was burned down by the infamous despoiler, the Earl of Hertford. A century later, Oliver Cromwell—ever the scourge of anything resembling Popery—defaced and destroyed some of the finest examples of architectural beauty, the craftsmanship of which has yet to be surpassed.
In 1648, Cromwell completed the ruin of the church, which had been fortified by the Royalists, by demolishing it with gunpowder after the capitulation of the garrison. Only the east and north walls of the choir, along with a tower that historian Can claimed stood at the northwest angle of the transept—though it was more likely the central tower or a reconstruction of it—survived, along with some portions of the transepts and monastic buildings. Subsequently, a south and a west wall were added to the choir to convert it into a parish church. This conversion was instrumental in preserving the scanty remains of the once-glorious structure.
The aforementioned tower collapsed about a century ago, and the ruins, along with other parts of the priory not used for divine service, became the quarry for local landowners and residents needing building materials.
Since the beginning of the 19th century, however, a more preservation-minded spirit has prevailed. The choir of Coldingham Abbey Church, which had served as the parish church for nearly 300 years, was restored by the heritors in 1857. The initial steps involved removing the church's cumbersome internal fittings—such as galleries and pews—and restoring the building to its state during Cromwell's era, albeit further degraded by time and human interference. Excavation lowered the internal floor by about six feet, exposing a previously buried section of the decorated wall. On the exterior, the ground was excavated to reveal the building's foundations.
The west wall was reconstructed in its original style, while the south wall was rebuilt in a simpler style, omitting the elaborate decorations due to cost constraints. Corner towers were restored to their presumed original appearance. The roof underwent substantial renewal, with the ceiling replaced by polished, stained wood to emulate oak. Architectural details were cleaned of unsightly white coatings, and broken or missing elements were carefully restored or replaced with indistinguishable replicas. The result is a grand and imposing cathedral-like effect, with no galleries and fittings designed to harmonize with the building's character.
Architectural Features of the Choir's North and East Walls
The architectural features of the choir’s north and east walls, by far the oldest surviving parts of the building, date not from King Edgar’s foundation but from a restoration in the late 12th or early 13th century. These features are meticulously described by Mr. Muir:
“The style of the architecture is partly Norman and partly First Pointed, though neither is entirely pure, with each exhibiting traces of the other. Externally, the north elevation features single-light lancet windows separated by broad, shallow buttresses projecting only slightly from the wall. The window head moldings consist of half and three-quarter rounds deeply undercut, rising from banded edge shafts with floriated capitals and annular bases resting on a circle of balls. Additional Norman influences are evident in the square-shaped abaci of the shafts and the thin, wiry foliage of the capitals, characteristic of the Transitional or Semi-Norman period.
The north wall also features a Norman arcade in its lower section, arranged in pairs beneath the windows and separated by a narrow, trigonal string course. The semi-circular arches, spanning the full width of each section, are decorated with sharp-edged triangular moldings flanked by quarter- and half-rounds and topped with bold, trigonal drip molds. These arches spring from single cylindrical shafts with Norman abaci and First Pointed capitals, along with central bearing shafts of similar design, creating a visually rich and cohesive effect.”
The east end of the building is consistent in style and arrangement with the north wall, featuring flanking square turrets with cylindrical shafts at their corners. The bases of these turrets are molded, and their tops are sloped like set-offs, giving them the appearance of robust buttresses. Narrow, lancet-headed slits pierce the stages of the north turret. The facade between the turrets contains three windows similar to those on the north wall, separated by wide pilasters. Below these windows is an arcade, similar in style but featuring chevron moldings on the arches.
In the shape of the arches, the grouping of the moldings, and the configuration of most of the minor details, there is a much closer adherence to stylistic integrity here than is found in the external edifice. The capitals, however, still retain the square abacus, and while the foliage is better developed and more varied in design than typically seen in early Semi-Norman structures, it lacks the prominence and the peculiar freedom and elegance characteristic of the herbaceous forms of the mature First-Pointed period.*
About a mile east of St. Ebba's Monastery is the site of another chapel and burial ground. Half a century ago, the remains of this chapel were considerable. Now, only a series of grassy mounds, with fragments of masonry occasionally appearing above the surface, remain.
Near Reston, in this parish, there once stood a chapel dedicated to St. Nicholas. It is mentioned in one of the Coldingham charters as "The chapel of St. Nicholas, situated in the vill of West Riston." However, its exact location is no longer known.
The priory of Coldingham held the privilege of sanctuary, with a number of crosses erected in various parts of the area, presumably to mark the strict boundaries of the asylum. In a wooded hollow called "The Dean," near the village, there is a spring known as "St. Andrew's Well," which once supplied the priory with water and is still in use.*
In 1446, the priory possessed two cups (one gilt and the other silvered), a thurible, a tin cup, and a pair of cruets.
It is recorded that Mr. Alexander Douglas (1677–1689), a previous Episcopalian incumbent, retired with a significant number of parishioners to worship in a barn near the church and carried off various church items, including the communion plate. Mr. John Dysart, who succeeded Mr. Douglas as minister of the parish, sent a deputation to demand the return of the pulpit Bible, communion cups, baptismal basin, collection boxes, and the box for the communion cloth and mortcloth. According to the Kirk Session Records, most of these articles remained in Mr. Douglas's possession, as he resisted all appeals.
Currently, there are two silver communion cups engraved with the words:
“The money for buying this was left as a legacy by John Smith of Smithfield and paid by John Edington, his executor and successor, on the fifteenth of February, 1728.”
List of Churches and Chapels Held by the Priory in Berwickshire
The chapels of St. Ebba (on St. Abb’s Head), Eyemouth, Ayton, and St. Nicholas, West Reston.
The churches of Lamberton, Fishwick, Swinton, and Edrom (with its chapels of Kimmerghame, East Nisbet, Blackadder, and Earlston).
Aldcambus, with its hospital.
Additionally, the chapels of Naithansthirn and Newton, subordinate to Ednam. These were later acquired by Kelso Abbey.*
Several floor-crosses and other sepulchral slabs have been collected and placed against the exterior of the south transept wall. On one of these, a portion of the inscription remains decipherable and reads as follows:
"HEIR WIS BVRIED
JAMES AND MARGART CHISOMME 1562."
In the churchyard, which is large, there is nothing particularly remarkable.
On a very small stone are these words:
"Here lyes the corps of Jean Bookless who departed this life the 19 Awgwst 1741 aged 67 years."
The following simple and poignant words appear on the bottom of a modern stone erected to the memory of a young wife:
"I will follow the wife of my youth."
Mr. Ferguson—Hist. Ber. Nat. Club, 1890.
On another very small stone is this inscription:
"Here lyes the corps of James Alensha who departed this life September 24, 1727."
The following initials and dates appear on a very small stone:
"I. P. 1661.
I. H. 1670."
During the restorations previously mentioned, the tombs of two priors, Ernaldus and Radulphus, who presided over the priory around the beginning of the thirteenth century, were discovered within a square apartment near the west end of the building. The two large slabs are now carefully protected by a strong iron grating and are inscribed as follows:
"Ernaldus prior 1202."
"Radvlphvs prior de Coldingham 1209."
These lines appear on a modern tombstone:
"All ye who read my epitaph,
Seek ye the Lord and put not off;
Remember, when my grave you see,
I once did live like unto thee;
But soon by death was snatched away
In bloom of youth and no decay.
Oh! for eternity prepare,
And make a future life thy care."
The following is a list of ministers who have served Coldingham since 1567:
William Lamb—1567 to 1583
David Hume—1585 to 1592
Alexander Watsone, M.A.—1593 to 1614
William Douglas—1615 to 1621
Christopher Knoues, M.A.—1622 to 1641
Samuel Douglas, M.A.—1641 to 1652
David Hume, M.A.—1658 to 1662*
Alexander Hewat, M.A.—1665 to 1665 (a few months)
Andrew Bannatin, M.A.—1665 to 1668
Alexander Douglas, M.A.—1677 to 1689
John Dysart, M.A.—1694 to 1732†
Robert Brydone, M.A. (colleague and successor)—1725 to 1761
John Jolly—1761 to 1792
James Landell—1793 to 1827
James Home Robertson—1827 to 1847
David Munro (present incumbent)—1847
A chapel-of-ease was erected at Renton by the Presbytery on 14th January and opened on 26th January 1794. The following were its ministers:
Joseph Bethune—1794 to 1799
George Marshall—1800 to 1811
At Houndwood, there is a church built and opened in 1836, later constituted as a quoad sacra parish by the General Assembly on 30th May 1836 and 28th May 1838. It was formally erected as such by the Court of Teinds on 9th July 1851. The building is a plain quadrangular structure of red stone with a square belfry tower in the front elevation, terminating in a low pyramidal slated roof. It replaced the old chapel-of-ease at Renton.
The list of ministers is as follows:
John Duncan—1836 to 1837
John Robertson—1838 to 1843
David Drummond—1851 to 1879
George A. Bisset (present incumbent)—1880
There is a United Presbyterian Church in the village of Coldingham. It was originally built in 1793 and rebuilt in 1870. The current minister is Andrew Brodie Robertson, who has served since 1856.
At St. Abb's, in this parish, there is a Free Church—a neat edifice in the simple Norman style, quite a model little church—erected in 1892. The current minister is John S. Allison, settled in 1895.
At Grant's House, also in this parish, there is a Free Church, built in 1888 (the congregation previously worshipped at Houndwood). The building is neat, commodious, and exceedingly comfortable inside. The current minister is James Marshall, M.A., B.D., who first served at Houndwood in 1882.
There is also a Free Church at Reston, erected in 1880. It is in the Early English style, both neat and ornamental. The current minister is William Hall Telford, who has served since 1881.
SOURCE: The Churches And Churchyards Of Berwickshire By James Robson 1893, updated 2025 Nathan Zipfel