Stobo Kirk is an ancient church of the Church of Scotland. It is dedicated to St Mungo and is situated near the B712 off the A72 just 6 miles south-west of Peebles in the ancient county of Peeblesshire, now part of the Scottish Borders Council area. It stands near the confluence of the River Tweed with the Easton Burn.[1]
The Cedar of Lebanon entrance doorJesus Christ blessing children, one of the stained glass windows in Stobo Kirk
It is believed there has been a church on the site of present-day Stobo Kirk since as early as the 6th century. St Kentigern, otherwise known as St Mungo, founded many churches during his time as Archbishop of the ancient kingdom of Strathclyde, and Stobo is believed to be one of his foundations.
A new church, the ancestor of the present building, was built in the 12th century, but is unusually on a NE-SW axes rather than the conventional E-W axes.[3]
During the 15th and 16th centuries, the Scottish people were becoming weary of the rule of Rome. The church was becoming wealthy but the people were still poor and many voices spoke of reforming the church in Scotland.[4] The people of Stobo were no different and when their canon, Adam Colquhoun,[5] was succeeded by one of his two sons, it helped fuel the desire for a reformed church.
Post Reformation
Stobo, part of the Parish of Stobo in the Diocese of Glasgow until the Protestant Reformation, appears to have retained much of the original 12th-century building, including windows, the nave and chancel, unlike many other Roman Catholic churches which were destroyed after the coming of the reformed religion. The tower was raised above first-floor level in the 16th century, and further major restoration was carried out in 1863[6] by John Lessels, an eminent 19th-century architect.[7] Further major restoration work was carried out in 1929. The church exterior is not so inviting but the interior is of great interest and character.
Legend
"Kentigern, Myrddin": Merlin Sylvestris (Merlin Wyllt) being converted to Christianity by Saint KentigernThe 'altarstone' in Stobo Kirk on which Merlin was converted to Christianity
Legend has it that St Kentigern converted Myrddin Wyllt (Merlin Sylvestris)[8] or Merlin (the wizard associated with King Arthur) to Christianity and baptised him on a boulder near Drumelzier. Merlin had fled to the forest after Gwenddoleu had been defeated and killed at the battle of Arderydd near Arthuret in 573. There is a great rock at the spot known as the 'Altar Stone' and a stained glass window in Stobo Kirk commemorates the event.
The porch was added in the late 15th–16th century and is notable for the grooves in the left-hand doorjamb, created by pupils sharpening their slate pencils before class and possibly by the sharpening of arrow heads prior to the weekly after-church archery practice which became compulsory after the disaster of the Battle of Flodden.[9] The 12th-century Norman entrance into the nave has a door made from a single board of cedar wood from the nearby Dawyck estate.[9]
On the outer entrance hangs the old Jougs used to punish recalcitrant members of the parish until some time in the 18th century.[9]
Nave
A much damaged Celtic cross was found in the stonework during restoration and a reconstruction has been placed in the nave. The red paint on the stonework is a reminder of the original brightly painted character of pre-Reformation churches.[10]
North aisle chapel
The kirk towerStobo Kirk from the north-northeast (houses and gardens in foreground)
Reconstructed in 1928 in a style reminiscent of the Arts and Crafts Movement, in the erroneous belief that this was the site of Saint Kentigern's Chapel, the structure incorporates a standing stone in the wall. It was probably a chantry or mortuary aisle of the 15th century.[11] The 14th burial slab of Robert Vesey, and others of a local miller and a knight in armour are preserved in the aisle. The altar stone may be linked to the conversion of Merlin Sylvestris by Saint Kentigern (Mungo).[8]
Graves of Note
As part of the 1928 restoration three tombstones were moved from the floor to the chapel walls. The most important bears the inscription (in Latin) "Here lies Mr Robert Vessy sometime vicar of Stobo who died on the 10th day of May in the year of Our Lord 1473". A second shows a full length figure of a man in partial armour with a sword by his side, dating from the second half of the 16th century. The third stone is incomplete.[12]
Tower
The tower may be 12th-century in origin; however, it has been rebuilt several times. It gave access to the 'Laird's Loft' and now contains a meeting room as well as the vestry. Blocked-up windows of a likely 16th-century date are present.[11]
Brass hanging lamps
The Balfour family of Stobo Castle presented a number of brass hanging lamps to the kirk and one of these has been identified as being manufactured in Nuremberg by Hans Muller between 1693 and 1701. The others are copies or by other Nuremberg craftsmen.[13]
Kentigern, known as Mungo, was a missionary in the Brittonic Kingdom of Strathclyde in the late sixth century, and the founder and patron saint of the city of Glasgow.
Myrddin Wyllt is a figure in medieval Welsh legend. In Middle Welsh poetry he is accounted a chief bard, the speaker of several poems in The Black Book of Carmarthen and The Red Book of Hergest. He is called Wyllt—"the Wild"—by Elis Gruffydd, and elsewhere Myrddin Emrys ("Ambrosius"), Merlinus Caledonensis or Merlin Sylvestris("of the woods"). Myrddin Wylt was born in 540 CE.
St Giles' Cathedral, or the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in the Old Town of Edinburgh. The current building was begun in the 14th century and extended until the early 16th century; significant alterations were undertaken in the 19th and 20th centuries, including the addition of the Thistle Chapel. St Giles' is closely associated with many events and figures in Scottish history, including John Knox, who served as the church's minister after the Scottish Reformation.
Glasgow Cathedral is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in Glasgow, Scotland. It is the oldest cathedral in mainland Scotland and the oldest building in Glasgow. The cathedral was the seat of the Archbishop of Glasgow, and the mother church of the Archdiocese of Glasgow and the province of Glasgow, until the Scottish Reformation in the 16th century. Glasgow Cathedral and St Magnus Cathedral in Orkney are the only medieval cathedrals in Scotland to have survived the Reformation virtually intact. The medieval Bishop's Castle stood to the west of the cathedral until 1789. Although notionally it lies within the Townhead area of the city, the Cathedral grounds and the neighboring Necropolis are considered to be their own district within the city.
The Archdiocese of Glasgow was one of the thirteen dioceses of the Scottish church. It was the second largest diocese in the Kingdom of Scotland, including Clydesdale, Teviotdale, parts of Tweeddale, Liddesdale, Annandale, Nithsdale, Cunninghame, Kyle, and Strathgryfe, as well as Lennox, Carrick and the part of Galloway known as Desnes.
Drumelzier, is a village and civil parish on the B712 in the Tweed Valley in the Scottish Borders.
Lyne Kirk is an ancient and historic kirk or church, of the Church of Scotland. It is situated on top of a mound adjacent to the A72 trunk route 4.5 miles west of Peebles in the ancient county of Peeblesshire, now in the Scottish Borders area, and governed by the Scottish Borders Council.
Traquair is a small village and civil parish in the Scottish Borders; until 1975 it was in the county of Peeblesshire. The village is situated on the B709 road 2.0 miles (3.2 km) south of Innerleithen at grid reference NT330346.
St Kentigern's Church,, is in the village of Caldbeck, Cumbria, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Carlisle, the archdeaconry of Carlisle and the diocese of Carlisle. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. It is dedicated to Saint Kentigern, whose alternative name is Saint Mungo; hence the church's alternative title of Caldbeck, St Mungo.
Dawyck Chapel, also known as Dalwick Church, is located within the Parish of Drumelzier in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. The chapel lies within the Dawyck Botanic Gardens, an outstation or "regional garden" of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, some eight miles (13 km) south west of Peebles on the B712 and a similar distance south east of Biggar.
Dawyck House is a historic house at Dawyck, in the parish of Drumelzier in the former Peeblesshire, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. The alternative name is 'Dalwick House'. Canmore ID 49816.
Cavers is a parish in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, in the former county of Roxburghshire, south and east of Hawick. The largest village in the parish is Denholm.
Stobo Castle is located at Stobo in the Scottish Borders, in the former county of Peeblesshire. The Manor of Stobo was originally owned by the Balfour family. It became the family seat of the Graham-Montgomery Baronets from 1767. The building of the present castle began in 1805 and was completed in 1811 under the supervision of architects Archibald and James Elliot. It is currently operated as a health spa. The house is protected as a category A listed building, while the grounds are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland, the national listing of significant parks and gardens.
Manor is a parish in Peeblesshire in the Scottish Borders, whose church lies on the west bank of Manor Water 3 miles south-west of Peebles.
Kirkurd is a parish in Peeblesshire in the Scottish Borders situated 3 miles south-east of Dolphinton and 6 miles north-east of Broughton. Tarth Water, a tributary of Lyne Water forms the northern boundary, with the parishes of Linton and Newlands on the north bank. The parish of Stobo lies to the east and south, the parish of Broughton, Glenholm and Kilbucho to the south, Skirling and Dolphinton (Lanarkshire) to the east.
Megget is a former chapelry or parish containing the valley of Megget Water, now forming the westernmost part of the parish of Yarrow, Selkirkshire in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. The centre of the valley is 19 miles west of Selkirk.
Skirling is a parish, community council area and village in Peeblesshire in the Scottish Borders situated 2+1⁄2 miles east of Biggar in Lanarkshire. Biggar Water, a tributary the River Tweed forms the southern boundary of the parish with the parish of Broughton, Glenholm and Kilbucho. It is also bounded by that parish on the east, namely the Broughton part of it. On the north it is bounded by the parish Kirkurd in Peeblesshire. Spittal Burn forms most of its western boundary with Lanarkshire.
Baron of Stobo is a title of nobility in the Baronage of Scotland which takes its name from Stobo in the Scottish Borders.
Kirkbride, previously Kilbride was an ancient parish close to the village of Enterkinfoot, the lands of which lay on both sides of the River Nith in the old Strathnith area of Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, about 5 miles south of Sanquhar and north of Closeburn. The parish was suppressed and divided between Durisdeer and Sanquhar parishes in 1732. The ruins of the kirk are a scheduled monument and the surrounding graveyard is a Category B listed building with the River Nith in the valley below. The Ha Cleuch Burn flows through the glen that lies to the east of the site with a lane reaching it that runs up from Enterkinfoot, ending at Coshogle Farm.
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