Seton Collegiate Church, known locally as Seton Chapel, is a

collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons: a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by a ...

south of

Port Seton Cockenzie and Port Seton ( sco, Cockennie ; gd, Cùil Choinnich, meaning "cove of Kenneth") is a unified town in East Lothian, Scotland. It is on the coast of the Firth of Forth, four miles east of Musselburgh. The burgh of Cockenzie was created ...

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 ...

. It is adjacent to Seton House. The church 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 d ...

Description

The church consists of the complete eastern limb and the two

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...

s of a cruciform church, the crossing-tower as high as it was built (the completion of the

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

was precluded by the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

), and the dubious foundations of the nave, which was not built. The walls of the choir and chancel were built by 1478, and roofed by 1508. The transepts were erected sometime between 1513 and 1588. As such the eastern limb stood without them for at least 35 years. The church was raised to collegiate status in 1492. Contained within are two

effigies An effigy is an often life-size sculptural representation of a specific person, or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certai ...

: one male and one female, dating from the fifteenth century. The female effigy, badly defaced, is possibly of earlier origin. To the immediate south west are the foundations of the buildings once occupied by the clergy and staff. During the war now known as 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 the ...

, the English army occupied Haddington. The Seton family was forced to live at

Culross Abbey Culross Abbey is a former Cistercian abbey in Culross, Scotland, headed by the Abbot or Commendator of Culross. Part of it is still used as the local parish church by the Church of Scotland. History The abbey was founded in 1217 by Malcolm I, M ...

in 1549, where

George Seton, 6th Lord Seton George Seton IV, 6th Lord Seton (died 1549) was a Lord of the Parliament of Scotland. He was the son of Janet Hepburn, daughter of Patrick Hepburn, 1st Earl of Bothwell. His father, the 5th Lord Seton was killed at the battle of Flodden and George ...

died. After the war was over, his widow

Marie Pieris Marie Pieris, Lady Seton (circa 1520–1576) was a French lady in waiting at the Scottish court. She was the daughter of René Pierres, Seigneur du Plessis-Baudouin and Antoinette d'Hommes. The French Pierres family claimed to have descended from ...

had his body brought to Seton and buried in the choir next to his father.

Richard Maitland Sir Richard Maitland of Lethington and Thirlstane (1496 – 1 August 1586) was a Senator of the College of Justice, an Ordinary Lord of Session from 1561 until 1584, and notable Scottish poet. He was served heir to his father, Sir William Maitl ...

, ''History of the House of Seytoun'' (Glasgow, 1829), p. 42. The 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 a 4-Star Historic Tourist Attraction. Architectural fragments of the adjacent long-demolished Seton Palace are displayed in the churchyard.

Photo gallery

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References

Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot. Article by Stewart Cruden, Inspector of Ancient Monuments for Scotland, 2002
Churches in East Lothian Scheduled Ancient Monuments in East Lothian Listed churches in Scotland Collegiate churches in Scotland Historic Environment Scotland properties 15th-century establishments in Scotland {{Scotland-church-stub