St Helen's Church (Cockburnspath)

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St Helen's Church

The St Helen's Church , and St Helen's Kirk , is a ruined church near the Scottish village of Cockburnspath in the Council Area Scottish Borders . In 1971 the structure was included in the Scottish monument lists in the highest monument category A. This classification was lifted in 2016. Furthermore, the church ruins are classified as a Scheduled Monument .

history

The oldest fragments of the church building date from the 12th century. In the 14th or 15th century, however, the building was largely rebuilt. St Helen's Church served as a parish church for centuries . After the amalgamation of two parishes and the building of Cockburnspath Church , it probably became obsolete and fell into disrepair.

description

The ruins of St Helen's Church are isolated in the middle of a surrounding cemetery near the North Sea coast about three kilometers west of Cockburnspath. The nave of the Norman structure measures 10.6 m × 5.3 m, while the choir has an area of ​​4.7 m × 3.4 m. The masonry is now preserved up to a maximum height of four meters. The presence of buttresses on the west side suggests that the masonry dates from the 15th century. Remains of building openings on the north and south sides indicate entrance portals. Two arched recesses on the south side could have been graves.

There are numerous historically interesting tombstones in the surrounding cemetery. It is worth highlighting two hogbacks , one of which has been completely preserved.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  2. ↑ a b c Scheduled Monument - entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  3. ↑ a b Entry on St Helen's Church  in Canmore, the database of Historic Environment Scotland (English)

Web links

Coordinates: 55 ° 55 ′ 43.5 "  N , 2 ° 18 ′ 56.1"  W.