Abbey St Bathans ( gd, Abaid Bhaoithin) is a parish in the Lammermuir district of

Berwickshire Berwickshire ( gd, Siorrachd Bhearaig) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. Berwickshire County Council existed from 1890 until 1975, when the area became part of th ...

, in the eastern part of the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lothi ...

. Unique in its topography, it is situated in a long winding steep wooded valley that follows the

Whiteadder Water Whiteadder Water is a river in East Lothian and Berwickshire, Scotland. It also flows for a very short distance through Northumberland before joining the River Tweed. In common with the headwaters of the Biel Water it rises on the low hillside ...

. The parish had a population of 106 at the 2011 Census.Census of Scotland 2011, Table KS101SC – Usual Resident Population, published by National Records of Scotland. Website http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ retrieved Apr 2018. See “Standard Outputs”, Table KS101SC, Area type: Civil Parish 1930, Area: Abbey St Bathans

History and Kirk

Abbey St Bathans was originally a

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of mon ...

Cistercian Nuns Cistercian nuns are female members of the Cistercian Order, a religious order belonging to the Roman Catholic branch of the Catholic Church. History The first Cistercian monastery for women, Le Tart Abbey, was established at Tart-l'Abbaye in t ...

established in the 12th century. It was sanctified and then used as a retreat by the sisters who formed the community at Haddington and at

Nunraw Nunraw is an estate in East Lothian, Scotland. It includes the White Castle, a hillfort, situated on the edge of the Lammermuir Hills, two miles south of the village of Garvald, (, , OS Landranger No.67.) Nunraw House was formerly used as the Gu ...

, under the patronage of Ada, Countess of Dunbar and her husband Patrick, Earl of Dunbar. Though the original location of the monastic accommodation is unknown today, there is a stone on one side of the glen known as the Abbey Stone. While there are no religious houses in the village today, there is a small church in the square. A clergyman is shared with nearby hamlet of

Longformacus Longformacus ( gd, Longphort Mhacais) is a small village in Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It is around north-west of Duns, in the Lammermuir Hills. The Dye Water runs through the village, flowing east towards its confl ...

. The dedication is to St. Bathan—

Baithéne mac Brénaind Baithéne mac Brénaind (also known as Saint Baoithin and Saint Buadán) was an Irish monk, one of Saint Columba's followers who accompanied him to Scotland around 563, and was the first successor of the abbacy of Iona. The Annals of Tigernach re ...

—the second

abbot of Iona The Abbot of Iona was the head of Iona Abbey during the Middle Ages and the leader of the monastic community of Iona, as well as the overlord of scores of monasteries in both Scotland and Ireland, including Durrow, Kells and, until the Synod of ...

. While there is no priory today there is a small church, or

Kirk Kirk is a Scottish and former Northern English word meaning "church". It is often used specifically of the Church of Scotland. Many place names and personal names are also derived from it. Basic meaning and etymology As a common noun, ''kirk'' ...

, in private ownership situated in the centre of the village. The Kirk was rebuilt in the 18th century and incorporates, in the east and north walls, late 14th century remains of the Church of the Priory of St Mary - the original Cistercian priory founded in the late 12th or early 13th centuries (exact date unknown) and secularised in 1622. Abbey St Bathans Kirk

In the mid-1960s, a deposit or "midden" was found by the existing Kirk, on the river bank where such a "tip" would logically be located . This contained many shards of pottery which were identified as mediaeval by the

Royal Scottish Museum The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland, was formed in 2006 with the merger of the new Museum of Scotland, with collections relating to Scottish antiquities, culture and history, and the adjacent Royal Scottish Museum (opened in ...

, Edinburgh. This suggests that the priory was located in the riverside meadow area around the existing Kirk, and a dig would probably reveal some of the structure. This deposit was discovered and excavated by Mrs. E. K. Robb, whose family used to holiday in the village. The dedication is to Saint Bathan ( gd, Baithéne mac Brénaind) the second

. A Minister used to be shared with nearby hamlet of

There is evidence that Abbey St Bathans has been inhabited for at least 2,500 years with the discovery of Bronze Age artefacts including a Bronze Age dagger , and the presence of the nearby Edins Hall Broch, an Iron Age defensive structure.

The village

Abbey St Bathans village is situated beside the

. The village is centred around the Kirk, a footbridge (known locally as the 'Gurkha bridge' after the Gurkha Soldiers that built it in 1987), sheep sheds, a post box, telephone exchange, phone box and housing. The Rest House, Abbey St Bathans - geograph

The Rest House, Abbey St Bathans - geograph

Further up the valley north of the Kirk is the village hall which holds regular events and occasional exhibitions. Downriver, south of the Kirk can be found a fish farm, car park, café and small sawmill. The

Southern Upland Way The Southern Upland Way is a coast-to-coast long-distance footpath in southern Scotland. The route links Portpatrick in the west and Cockburnspath in the east via the hills of the Southern Uplands. The Way is designated as one of Scotland's Gr ...

and the

Sir Walter Scott Way The Sir Walter Scott Way is a long-distance footpath in the Scottish Borders. The route broadly follows the waymarked Southern Upland Way, except for in a few sections. It commemorates Sir Walter Scott, one of Scotland's most renowned writers, ...

pass through the village. There are several footpaths for walkers including to the nearby Edins Hall Broch and Cockburn Law hill. The village is also on
bicycling route
The SYHA used to have a youth hostel in the village known locally as the Rest House, however it has been closed for over ten years. The

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

township of

Saint Bathans St Bathans, formerly named Dunstan Creek, is a former gold and coal mining town in Central Otago, New Zealand. The settlement was a centre of the Otago Gold Rush, but mining has since long ceased. It is now largely a holiday retreat due to the p ...

is named after the village.Reed, A.W. (1975) ''Place names of New Zealand.'' Wellington: A.H. & A.W. Reed. p. 371

Abbey St Bathans House

The house began, probably in the early 19th century (a date stone of 1694 is of unknown provenance) as a thatched

cottage ornée A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager had to provide ...

, set at the base of a knoll with the ground falling away steeply to the north to the

. It was built for the Turnbull family. This earlier core is identifiable at the centre of the entrance front as a two-bay section with first-floor dormers rising through the eaves, and with a salient gabled section at its northern end terminating the north-west range. Later extensions, especially in the 1870s, retain something of the original character, if not the scale, in the plethora of traceried bargeboards, dormers, and barley-sugar chimneystacks. The detailing of the north-west front is more overtly Baronial, having a central tower-like pavilion with chamfered corners at the upper levels, a tall pyramidal roof, and a quadrant bartizan at the north-east angle. There are attractive interiors, particularly the stair with twisted balusters and timber arcading. Many fittings were moved here in the 1880s by Dorothea Veitch from Bassendean House. On the estate are a picturesque lodge, stables and groom's cottage, and an artfully composed Z-plan complex including gamekeeper's cottage and kennels. In 2019, the house was in multiple occupation.

Non profit community resources

Abbey St Bathans, Bonkyl and Preston Community CouncilKnow the code before you go (Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003)

References

Cruft, Dunbar & Fawcett, ''The buildings of Scotland: Borders'', 2006, p. 90 {{authority control Villages in the Scottish Borders Berwickshire Parishes in Berwickshire

History and Kirk

The village

Abbey St Bathans House

Non profit community resources

See also

References