Bassendean is a village in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, south of

Westruther Westruther is a village on the B6465, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, on the lower slopes of the Lammermuir Hills, in the former Berwickshire. The largest town nearby is Gordon. Places nearby include Duns, Greenlaw, the Lammermuir ...

and north-west of

Gordon Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, ...

. It is by the

Eden Water Eden Water is a tributary of the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders of Scotland. "Water" is the Lowland Scots term for a small river. The Eden Burn rises to the east of Lauder at Corsbie Moor on Boon Farm. The Eden Water passes Bassendean vil ...

in the former

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 t ...

, immediately south of the hamlet of Houndslow. The medieval village of Bassendean declined in the 17th century, and only a ruined church now remains of the settlement. The church, dedicated to St Mary, was established in the 12th century. Disused after the

Scottish Reformation The Scottish Reformation was the process by which Scotland broke with the Papacy and developed a predominantly Calvinist national Kirk (church), which was strongly Presbyterian in its outlook. It was part of the wider European Protestant Refor ...

, it was rebuilt in 1647, but was replaced only two years later by a new church at Westruther. It subsequently became the burial ground for the Homes of Bassendean. Bassendean House has been the seat of the

Homes A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. ...

of Bassendean since 1583. Only a fragment of the original

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strateg ...

remains, although the 17th-century house is still in domestic occupation. The house and the ruins of the church are both protected as Category B

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

s. During the 1830s, the Colonial Secretary of Western Australia,

Peter Broun Peter Nicholas Broun (17 August 1797 – 5 November 1846), known for most of his life as Peter Nicholas Brown, was the first Colonial Secretary of Western Australia, and a member of Western Australia's first Legislative Council. Early life Pe ...

, who had ancestral ties to Berwickshire, gave the name ''Bassendean'' to his homestead near

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

. By the 1920s, the surrounding suburb had also become known Bassendean and was officially renamed.

References

* Coventry, M. (2001) ''The castles of Scotland''. Musselburgh: Goblinshead. *

MacGibbon and Ross David MacGibbon (2 April 1831 – 20 February 1902) and Thomas Ross (10 November 1839 – 4 December 1930) were Scottish architects. Their practice, MacGibbon and Ross was established in 1872 and continued until 1914. They are best known today fo ...

(1887–92), ''The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth centuries''. Edinburgh

External links

Syllabus of Scottish Cartularies: Coldstream
{{Authority control Houses in the Scottish Borders Former populated places in Scotland Category B listed buildings in the Scottish Borders Listed churches in Scotland Listed houses in Scotland

See also

References

External links