Eccles (. Brythonic/ Welsh: ''Eglwys'') is a village and agricultural parish near Kelso in

Berwickshire Berwickshire (; ) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. The county takes its name from Berwick-upon-Tweed, its original county town, which was part of Scotland at the ...

in the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the we ...

area of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. The village is conjoined with Birgham and Leitholm.

Etymology

Like other 'Eccles'-names in Britain, this is taken to derive from the Brittonic word which survives in Welsh as ''eglwys'' 'church'. The word was originally borrowed into Brittonic from Latin ''ecclesia''.

History

It is said that there was a Christian enclave at Eccles in the 6th century or possibly before. Watson gives the derivation as most likely from the Welsh (or

Cumbric Cumbric is an extinct Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup spoken during the Early Middle Ages in the ''Hen Ogledd'' or "Old North", in Northern England and the southern Scottish Lowlands. It was closely related to Old Welsh and the ot ...

) ''eglwys'' meaning church Watson, W. J. (1926): History of the Celtic Place-Names of Scotland, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press and places with this name element are thought to indicate ancient Christian sites. Gospatric, Earl of Dunbar (or his wife) founded St. Mary's Cistercian convent at Eccles in 1156. Regent Albany stayed at Eccles Priory in November 1522 during an unsuccessful siege of Wark Castle. It was burnt by the

Earl of Hertford Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the Peerages in the United Kingdom, peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ...

's forces in 1545, then laicised to the Home family. Only two barrel-vaulted cells of the east range at the west end of the churchyard survive as well as architectural fragments built into later garden walls, although the parish church, rebuilt in 1774, may include some mediaeval stones. Patrick I, Earl of Dunbar, who died on 31 December 1232, was interred in the convent at Eccles.

Lairds

The principal landed proprietors in the vicinity of Eccles in 1696 appears to have been George Home of Kames (which is situated towards Birgham) who had 9 hearths, Purves Hall, then occupied by Marjory Flemming, had twelve

hearth A hearth () is the place in a home where a fire is or was traditionally kept for home heating and for cooking, usually constituted by a horizontal hearthstone and often enclosed to varying degrees by any combination of reredos (a low, partial ...

s, and Simon Marjoribanks of Stainrig who had six. (Purveshall and Stainrig are closer to Leithholm than Eccles). In 1843 it was James Greig who resided at Eccles House, which abuts the village.

Kirk

The

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

Parish Church, rebuilt in 1774, is a large 5-bay building with some stained glass windows (notably the 'War Memorial Window') in 'Gothick' glazing-patterned sashes in round-headed openings. There is a vernacular bell-tower at the east end holding a bell dated 1659. The last additions and internal alterations were carried out in 1930. The earliest

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

Minister appears to be Robert French, who was at Eccles from 1567 to 1574.Ewan (1998) p.8 The Reverend John Lauder, who had previously been the incumbent at

Lilliesleaf Lilliesleaf is a small village and civil parish south east of Selkirk in the Roxburghshire area of Scottish Borders of Scotland. Other places nearby include Ancrum, Ashkirk, Belses, Hassendean, Midlem, Minto House, Old Belses, St Bos ...

, was ordained into Eccles 28 May 1691, when objectors opposed to him interrupted the ceremony. Two of these were Richard Edgar of Newtoun, (an

Episcopalian Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protes ...

and opposed to the government of William & Mary), and Henry Home of Kames. Reverend Lauder from Eccles was a member of the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

in 1692. On Sunday 31 March 1695 Mr. Lauder was not present at Eccles to take the service, he "being sent to preach in the north as is ordered by the last Assembly that every Presbytery should send so many quarterly there." He was succeeded at Eccles by the Reverend Matthew Dysart MA, on 9 September 1729, Lauder having died in July that year. Dysart remained the incumbent at Eccles for a staggering forty three years. Today Eccles is conjoined with the parishes of Birgham and Leitholm.Ewan (1998)

Notable residents

*Possibly the district's most famous son is

Henry Home, Lord Kames Henry Home, Lord Kames (1696–27 December 1782) was a Scottish writer, philosopher and judge who played a major role in Scottish Agricultural Revolution, Scotland's Agricultural Revolution. A central figure of the Scottish Enlightenment, ...

. *

William Baird (physician) William Baird (11 January 1803, in Eccles, Berwickshire – 27 January 1872) was a Scottish physician and zoologist best known for his 1850 work, ''The Natural History of the British Entomostraca''. Biography Baird studied at the High Schoo ...

(1803-1872),

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

* William Barron (1805-1891), landscape gardener and park designer, born here * Thomas Creak Craik was a resident of both Eccles and Temple Village. He was one of the early modern farmers and owned Whitrig Farm, but the family also managed other properties. In 1832 Thomas funded the building of a New Church, in Temple Village.

In popular culture

The village was also mentioned in

Wolfblood ''Wolfblood'' is a British fantasy teen drama television series. Created by Debbie Moon, it is a co-production between CBBC and ZDF/ZDFE. The television series revolves around the life of the species known as wolfbloods. They are creatures tha ...

s Dark rune episode.

Notes

External links

RCAHMS/Canmore record of Eccles HouseRCAHMS/Canmore record of "Braw Bothy"RCAHMS record of the Parish of Eccles
{{authority control Berwickshire Villages in the Scottish Borders Parishes in Berwickshire