Lyne Kirk is an ancient and historic

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'' ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

, of the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

. It is situated on top of a mound adjacent to the A72 trunk route 4.5 miles west of

Peebles Peebles ( gd, Na Pùballan) is a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was historically a royal burgh and the county town of Peeblesshire. According to the 2011 census, the population was 8,376 and the estimated population in June 2018 wa ...

in the ancient county of

Peeblesshire Peeblesshire ( gd, Siorrachd nam Pùballan), the County of Peebles or Tweeddale is a historic county of Scotland. Its county town is Peebles, and it borders Midlothian to the north, Selkirkshire to the east, Dumfriesshire to the south, and Lan ...

, now in 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 ...

area, and governed by the

Scottish Borders Council Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

Pre-Reformation

The church was founded in the 12th century, in the reign of

William the Lion William the Lion, sometimes styled William I and also known by the nickname Garbh, "the Rough"''Uilleam Garbh''; e.g. Annals of Ulster, s.a. 1214.6; Annals of Loch Cé, s.a. 1213.10. ( 1142 – 4 December 1214), reigned as King of Scots from 11 ...

, as the Chapel of Lyne in the dependency of the nearby

Stobo Kirk Stobo Kirk is an ancient church of the Church of Scotland. It is dedicated to St Mungo and is situated near the B712 off the A72 just 6 miles south-west of Peebles in the ancient county of Peeblesshire, now part of the Scottish Borders Council ar ...

, and overseen by the Bishopric of Glasgow. While still part of the diocese of Glasgow, Lyne became a parish in its own right in the 14th century. Reverend

Hew Scott Hew Scott (1791–1872) was a minister of the Church of Scotland parish of Anstruther Wester. He is largely remembered as a religious researcher and author. His "magnum opus" is the comprehensive, multi-volume work, ''Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae ...

, author of the ''

Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae ''Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae, The Succession of Ministers in the Church of Scotland from the Reformation'' is a title given to books containing lists of ministers from the Church of Scotland. The original volumes covered all ministers of the Estab ...

'' remarked in that publication that he believed Lyne was the cradle of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

in Peeblesshire.

Post Reformation ministers, 1560-1682

* Patrick Grinton 1560–1571 * Gilbert Hay 1575–1592 * John Ker 1593–1627 * Hew Ker 1627–1658 (son of the above named John) * Robert Brown 1659–1682

The later years

Towards the end of the Bishopric of Glasgow, Lyne Kirk was falling into disrepair and, in 1600, was described as ruinous. In 1644, the church was greatly renovated and refurbished to form the fine building seen today. The renovations were carried out by John Hay, 8th Lord

Yester } Gifford is a village in the parish of Yester in East Lothian, Scotland. It lies approximately south of Haddington and east of Edinburgh. It groups around the Colstoun Water (locally called Gifford Water) at the junction of the B6369 and B6 ...

. In 1889, Francis Charteris,

Earl of Wemyss Earl of Wemyss ( ) is a title in the Peerage of Scotland created in 1633. The Scottish Wemyss family had possessed the lands of Wemyss in Fife since the 12th century. Since 1823 the earldom has been held with the Earldom of March, created in ...

carried out further major renewal work on the church. *John Hay was later elevated to the earldom of

Tweeddale Tweeddale (Scottish Gaelic: ''Srath Thuaidh/Tuaidhdail'') is a committee area and lieutenancy area in the Scottish Borders council area in south-eastern Scotland. It had also been a province in the Middle Ages. From 1975 to 1996 it was a local gov ...

. The interior of the church is mainly 17th century with a pre-Reformation

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mod ...

and a new porch was added in the 19th century. The

kirkyard In Christian countries a churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church, which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language and in both Scottish English and Ulster-Scots, this can also ...

contains many fine gravestones including the beautiful "Adam and Eve" gravestone, from 1712, depicting the temptation, by

Lucifer Lucifer is one of various figures in folklore associated with the planet Venus. The entity's name was subsequently absorbed into Christianity as a name for the devil. Modern scholarship generally translates the term in the relevant Bible passage ...

, to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Lyne Kirk is open to visitors.

References

External links

More photographs at Lyne
{{coord, 55, 39, 05, N, 3, 17, 09, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Churches in the Scottish Borders Listed churches in Scotland Category B listed buildings in the Scottish Borders

Pre-Reformation

Post Reformation ministers, 1560-1682

The later years

See also

References

External links