east-lothian-1924/05-200

Transcription

STENTON.] -- INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN EAST LOTHIAN. -- [STENTON.

177. St. John's Well, Spott.-The O.S. map
indicates this well to the west of the Church
at Spott.

xii. N.W.

SITES.

The O.S. Map indicates the following sites:-

178. Fort, 600 yards S.S.E. of the Black Loch.
xi. N.E.

179. Fort, Home Farm, Spott. Defences
entirely obliterated. xii. N.W.

STENTON.

ECCLESIASTICAL STRUCTURE.

180. Old Parish Church, Stenton.-The ruin
of the old parish church lies within the church-
yard adjoining the modern church in the
village of Stenton. It is an oblong structure
(fig. 158) built of local rubble roughly coursed
and measures internally

[illustration inserted]
FIG. 158.-Stenton
Church (No. 180).

63 feet along the incom-
plete east and west walls
and 18 feet from north to
south ; the highest portion
of walling standing is the
south wall, which in parts
is some 8 feet in height.
On the north there projects
a small sacristy, 12 feet
by 18 1/4 feet, now occupied as the burial place
of the Sydserffs of Ruchlaw.
At the western end of the church, but not
centering with it, there is a tower (fig. 25) of two
tiers, square on plan, which is complete, well
preserved and is used as a dovecot. It is built
of the same rubble as the church but in more
regular course with long and short quoins.
The tower appears to be a structure of the
16th century, to which period the church also
may be assigned.
The church is entered from the south by a
doorway with a segmental head in two orders
each moulded with a quirked edge roll. The
jambs are of similar section and have splayed
stops and rudimentary capitals following the
plan of the mouldings above and below. A
window west of the doorway has a splayed and

111

backset margin of later date than the doorway.
The tower contains three storeys, all un-
vaulted, the two lower of which have communi-
cated with the church. It is entered by a
doorway in the south wall, which has splayed
jambs and lintel ; communication between the
floors has been by a ladder. The upper
portion of the walls is intaken, where a splayed
offset course returns horizontally. The upper
storey is lit by a round-headed window in
each wall with deeply splayed jambs. The
gables are crowstepped, and the roof is of wood
covered with slates. There was a gallery in
the west end entered from a fore-stair.
FONT.-There is a circular font at the
eastern end of the church, which is now used as
a receptacle for plants. The external diameter
is 2 feet 7 inches, the total height 2 feet 1 inch,
and it has a lip on the exterior rim to receive
a leaden lining. It is illustrated and described
in Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot. xxi., p. 357.
CROSS SOCKET.-Beside the font is a stone,
gabletted on each face and mortised on the
upper surface to receive a small cross shaft,
which is evidently the termination of a pinnacle
or the apex of the east gable. It appears
to be earlier than any portion of the present
church and dates probably from the late 13th
or early 14th century.
HISTORICAL NOTE.-The parish was of old
known as Pitcox or " Pitcokis," and the
parish church was at the village of that name
a little over a mile to the north-east, where
now only the site of the old church is known,
Pitcox was a prebend in the collegiate church
of Dunbar.1 The parish church was trans-
ferred to its present position in 1561.2

1 Act. Parl. Scot. iv., p. 294 ; 2 Fasti Eccles.
Scot. (new edit.), i., p. 420.

xi. N.E. 1 September 1915.

CASTELLATED AND DOMESTIC STRUCTURE.

181. Gamelshiel Castle.-The ruin of this
building is situated 1/2 mile north of Millknowe
Farm, on the left bank of the Hall Burn.
The site is level, and the portions of building
upon it consist of parts of the north and
south walls of a small tower. The external
width of the structure is 22 feet 6 inches ; its
length is indeterminable. The walls now

  Transcribers who have contributed to this page.

Douglas Montgomery, Bizzy- Moderator

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