St Andrew's College, Drygrange, located near

Melrose Melrose may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Melrose, Scottish Borders, a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland ** Melrose Abbey, ruined monastery ** Melrose RFC, rugby club Australia * Melrose, Queensland, a locality in the South Burnett R ...

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 ...

, was a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

founded in 1953 and closed in 1986.

History

Foundation

Founded by Gordon Gray shortly after he became

Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh The Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh is the ordinary of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh. The archdiocese covers an area of 5,504 km2. The metropolitan see is in the City of Edinburgh where the archbishop's seat (''cathe ...

, the college was operated by the archdiocese in a large

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

called Drygrange House. The house, standing north of the

Leaderfoot Viaduct The Leaderfoot Viaduct, also known as the Drygrange Viaduct, is a railway viaduct over the River Tweed near Melrose, Scottish Borders, Melrose in the Scottish Borders. History The viaduct was opened on 16 November 1863 to carry the Berwickshire ...

, included sizeable grounds bordered by the

River Leader Leader Water is a small tributary of the River Tweed in Lauderdale in the Scottish Borders. It flows southwards from the Lammermuir Hills through the towns of Lauder and Earlston, joining the River Tweed at Leaderfoot. Course The feeder burns ...

, a tributary of the

River Tweed The River Tweed, or Tweed Water, is a river long that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England. Tweed cloth derives its name from its association with the River Tweed. The Tweed is one of the great salmon rivers ...

Closure

The archdiocese took the decision to close the college with effect from the autumn of 1986.Staff (7 August 1987).
"Seminary Moves On"
''

Catholic Herald The ''Catholic Herald'' is a London-based Roman Catholic monthly magazine, founded in 1888 and a sister organisation to the non-profit Catholic Herald Institute, based in New York. After 126 years as a weekly newspaper, it became a magazine ...

''. Retrieved 6 March 2013. The closure was blamed by then-Archbishop

Keith O'Brien Keith Michael Patrick O'Brien (17 March 1938 – 19 March 2018) was a senior-ranking Catholic Church, Catholic prelate in Scotland. He was the Archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh from 1985 to 2013. O'Brien was the leader of the Catholi ...

, himself a former student of the seminary, on the halving of the number of new Scottish entrants to the priesthood. The remaining students were transferred to

Gillis College Gillis Centre, formerly Gillis College and founded as St Margaret's Convent and School, is a complex of buildings situated close to the city centre of Edinburgh, Scotland. The history of the site can be traced back to the 15th century. The orig ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, the new seminary for the archdiocese,Staff (undated).
"The Gillis Centre's Past"
.

Gillis Centre Gillis Centre, formerly Gillis College and founded as St Margaret's Convent and School, is a complex of buildings situated close to the city centre of Edinburgh, Scotland. The history of the site can be traced back to the 15th century. The orig ...

. Retrieved 6 March 2013. and some 2,300 items from the college's library were deposited in the

National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS; ; ) is one of Scotland's National Collections. It is one of the largest libraries in the United Kingdom. As well as a public programme of exhibitions, events, workshops, and tours, the National Library of ...

. On another analysis, the new Gillis College was the seminary of St Andrew's, transferred to a new site and renamed.Wright, David F.; Badcock, Gary David (1996). ''Disruption to Diversity: Edinburgh Divinity 1846–1996''.

T&T Clark T&T Clark is a British publishing firm which was founded in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1821 and which now exists as an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing. History The firm was founded in 1821 by Thomas Clark, then aged 22 and who had a Free Church ...

. p. 253. . In 1987, the archdiocese sold the college's former buildings at Drygrange for £250,000 and they became a

nursing home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of older people, senior citizens, or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as care homes, skilled nursing facilities (SNF), or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms ...

called St Andrews Nursing Home, after going into administration it was sold and in March 2001 the new owners changed it to Grange Hall Care Home which has become (Jan 2017) one of the most successful and highest graded care homes in the Scottish Borders. In 1993, Gillis College also closed, and Chesters College,

Bearsden Bearsden ( ) is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the northwestern fringe of Greater Glasgow, approximately from the Glasgow city centre, city centre. The Roman Empire, Roman Antonine Wall runs through the town, and the remains of ...

, later renamed

Scotus College Scotus College was a seminary in Bearsden, Glasgow. It was founded in 1985 under the name of Chesters College and in 1993 was reconstituted as Scotus College. It was then the only remaining Roman Catholic seminary in Scotland. Its closure was a ...

, became the national seminary for Scotland.

Notable alumni

* Paul Kamuza Bakyenga, Archbishop of Mbarara *

Dennis Canavan Dennis Andrew Canavan (born 8 August 1942) is a Scottish politician. He was the Member of Parliament for Falkirk West (UK Parliament constituency), Falkirk West from 1974 to 2000 (known as West Stirlingshire (UK Parliament constituency), West S ...

, Scottish politician * Bishop

Vincent Logan Vincent Paul Logan (30 June 1941 – 14 January 2021) was the ninth bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dunkeld, which was restored (with boundaries differing from those of the pre-Reformation diocese) by Pope Leo XIII on 4 March 1878. Until ...

* Cardinal

* Bishop

Stephen Robson Stephen Robson (born 1 April 1951) is the retired bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dunkeld. From 2012 to 2014 he was auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh. Early life Stephen Robson was born in Carlisle, in the ...

Bishop Stephen Robson
at dunkelddiocese.co.uk, retrieved 14 May 2020

Gallery

File:South entrance to Grange Hall - geograph.org.uk - 701267.jpg, The entrance to the former Drygrange House, 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 ...

(2008).

References