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, headed by a dignitary bearing ...

south of

Port Seton Cockenzie and Port Seton ( ; ) 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 in 1591 by James VI of Scotland. Port Seton harbour was bui ...

East Lothian East Lothian (; ; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In ...

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 ...

. 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, visu ...

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 ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

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. Spire ...

was precluded by the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

), 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: 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 the English Reformation, the break with the Catholic Church, England attacked Scotland ...

, the English army occupied Haddington. The Seton family was forced to live at Culross Abbey in 1549, where George Seton, 6th Lord Seton died. After the war was over, his widow Marie Pieris had his body brought to Seton and buried in the choir next to his father. Richard Maitland, ''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) () 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 merger of government agency Historic Sc ...

, 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 monuments in East Lothian Listed churches in Scotland Collegiate churches in Scotland Historic Environment Scotland properties in East Lothian 15th-century establishments in Scotland {{Scotland-church-stub