Yester Chapel is situated on the estate of

Yester House Yester House is an early 18th-century mansion near Gifford in East Lothian, Scotland. It was the home of the Hay family, later Marquesses of Tweeddale, from the 15th century until the late 1960s. Construction of the present house began in 1699, ...

, at the south-east edge of the village of Gifford in

East Lothian East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the histo ...

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 the ...

. The chapel is situated at . It is a Category A

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 ...

History

It is not known when the first church was built on this site but is thought to have been erected by the de Giffard family in the early 13th century, the church having been consecrated by David de Bernham,

Bishop of St. Andrews The Bishop of St. Andrews ( gd, Easbaig Chill Rìmhinn, sco, Beeshop o Saunt Andras) was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of St Andrews in the Catholic Church and then, from 14 August 1472, as Archbishop of St Andrews ( gd, Àrd-easbaig ...

in 1241. Bothans was the original name of the church and village. The lands of Yester were granted to Hugh de Giffard in the 12th century by King

Malcolm IV of Scotland Malcolm IV ( mga, Máel Coluim mac Eanric, label=Medieval Gaelic; gd, Maol Chaluim mac Eanraig), nicknamed Virgo, "the Maiden" (between 23 April and 24 May 11419 December 1165) was King of Scotland from 1153 until his death. He was the eldest ...

and his mother

Ada de Warenne Ada de Warenne (or Adeline de Varenne) ( 1120 – 1178) was the Anglo-Norman wife of Henry of Scotland, Earl of Northumbria and Earl of Huntingdon. She was the daughter of William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey by Elizabeth of Vermandois, and a ...

. Confirmation of that grant was made at Durham, by Malcolm's brother, William I of Scotland between 1198 and 1202 to Hugo's son William de Giffard. The king referred to Yester as Jhestrid. The church served the parish until 1421 when the new owners of Yester, the Hay family, applied to the Archbishop of St. Andrews to erect the kirk to college status. The application was made by the proprietors of the church, William de Hay, Thomas Boyd, Eustace Maxwell and Dougal McDowel. At that time Sir John Richardson was Rector of Bothans Kirk. The Collegiate Church of St. Cuthbert at Bothans now served the Hay family to pray for their souls. It was attended by a provost, four prebendaries, a chaplain and singing boys. In 1539, Robert Watherstone was the provost and the college now had six prebendaries.

After the Reformation

After the Reformation in 1560, the church returned to being the

Parish Church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

of Bothans or Bothanis as it was sometimes known, with the Hay family still the principal proprietors. That situation continued until the Hays, now the Marquesses of Tweeddale, decided to build a new village,

Gifford, East Lothian } 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 ...

, and clear the village of Bothans. They also built a new church, Yester Kirk in 1708, spelling the end for the old kirk at Bothans. Bothans Kirk, now known as Yester Chapel, became the burial aisle of the Hay family. The church has had much restoration and necessary repairs over the years.

Word meanings

''Yester'' is from ''Yestryd'', Cymric for strath or

dale Dale or dales may refer to: Locations * Dale (landform), an open valley * Dale (place name element) Geography ;Australia * The Dales (Christmas Island), in the Indian Ocean ;Canada * Dale, Ontario ;Ethiopia *Dale (woreda), district ;Norway *D ...

. ''Bothans'' is from the Gaelic ''Bothans'' or Welsh ''Bwthyn'', both words meaning "a group of small dwellings".

References

External links

More photographs from Geograph

Rosslyn Templars. Scottish Collegiate Churches
{{Coord, 55.8951, -2.7297, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Category A listed buildings in East Lothian Collegiate churches in Scotland Churches in East Lothian Listed churches in Scotland

History

After the Reformation

Word meanings

See also

References

External links