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Dunglass Collegiate Church is situated in south-east East Lothian just off the old A1 highway, one mile north of Cockburnspath in
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 ...
,
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, UK. It is designated as a
scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and ...
.


History

The date of building the Chapel, dedicated to St. Mary of Dunglass, is unclear but when Sir Alexander Home of that Ilk was granted a charter, in 1421, to the lands of Dunglass the chapel was in existence, adjacent to Dunglass Castle, now demolished. In 1423, Sir Alexander Home of Dunglass employed priests (a college) to pray for the family's souls and the chapel was raised to collegiate status. This was confirmed by King James II of Scots in 1450 and confirmed by
Pope Nicholas V Pope Nicholas V ( la, Nicholaus V; it, Niccolò V; 13 November 1397 – 24 March 1455), born Tommaso Parentucelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 March 1447 until his death in March 1455. Pope Eugene made ...
. The college was composed of a provost, three chaplains and four boy choristers. In November 1500 George Home of Ayton endowed a chaplain to sing at the altar of "Our Lady of Pity" in the church. Originally, the church consisted of a nave and a choir and the Home or Hume burial vault. In the 16th century transepts were added and a new tower. In 1544 the church and castle were attacked by the Earl of Hertford's army during the wars of the
Rough Wooing The Rough Wooing (December 1543 – March 1551), also known as the Eight Years' War, was part of the Anglo-Scottish Wars of the 16th century. Following its break with the Roman Catholic Church, England attacked Scotland, partly to break th ...
but the locals managed to repel the insurgents. In 1560, the church closed at the onset of the
Scottish Reformation The Scottish Reformation was the process by which Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland broke with the Pope, Papacy and developed a predominantly Calvinist national Church of Scotland, Kirk (church), which was strongly Presbyterianism, Presbyterian in ...
. An Act of the Scottish Parliament in 1563 abolished mass forever and the church's days as a Roman Catholic Chapel were over. In the early days of the church, a hospital, to offer solace and aid to the sick, was built nearby and dedicated to St. Mary and John the Baptist. The building is built of
ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...
sandstone and roofed by stone slabs though the tower in now unroofed. Dunglass interior looking west


Later years

After the Reformation the church continued to be used as a parish church until the 18th century before it was sold to a farmer. The widow of
Alexander Home, 1st Earl of Home Sir Alexander Home of that Ilk, 1st Lord Home ( – ) was in 1448 Sheriff Deputy for Berwickshire, and was made a Lord of Parliament on 2 August 1473. He is an ancestor of the Earls of Home. Family Alexander Home's father, Sir Alexander Home of ...
(d. 1619), the Countess of Home discussed erecting a marble tomb for her husband with the London sculptor
Nicholas Stone Nicholas Stone (1586/87 – 24 August 1647) was an English sculptor and architect. In 1619 he was appointed master-mason to James I, and in 1626 to Charles I. During his career he was the mason responsible for not only the building of ...
, but nothing was done. She died in London and her body was shipped to Dunglass for burial in 1644. The holy building was desecrated when the farmer bulldozed the east window to make way for his vehicles and the church including the burial aisle was used as a barn. In 1807 some dignity was restored when Sir John Hall bought Dunglass; the family later used the south transept as a burial aisle. In 1919 the estate was purchased by the Usher family.


The present day

Dunglass Church is now in the care of
Historic Environment Scotland Historic Environment Scotland (HES) ( gd, Àrainneachd Eachdraidheil Alba) is an executive non-departmental public body responsible for investigating, caring for and promoting Scotland's historic environment. HES was formed in 2015 from the mer ...
and is situated in an idyllic situation surrounded by well manicured lawns and thick woodland. An interesting sundial stands on a mound adjacent to the ancient edifice. Dunglass Collegiate Church is one of the top attractions in East Lothian.


See also

*
List of places in East Lothian ''Map of places in East Lothian compiled from this list'' The List of places in East Lothian is a list for any town, village, hamlet, castle, golf course, historic house, hill fort, lighthouse, nature reserve, reservoir, river, and other place of ...
*
List of places in Scotland This list of places in Scotland is a complete collection of lists of places in Scotland. * List of burghs in Scotland * List of census localities in Scotland * List of islands of Scotland ** List of Shetland islands ** List of Orkney islands ** ...


References


External links


More images from geograph
{{Coord, 55.93956, -2.37523, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Churches in East Lothian Collegiate churches in Scotland Scheduled Ancient Monuments in East Lothian Listed churches in Scotland