Prestonkirk Parish Church

Prestonkirk Parish Church, East Linton
©2022 Gazetteer for Scotland

Prestonkirk Parish Church, East Linton

Overlooking the River Tyne at Preston, immediately to the northeast of East Linton (East Lothian), Prestonkirk has the appearance of a plain Georgian church largely dating from 1770, although it lies on a site which has been associated with religious worship since ancient times. Reputedly founded by St. Baldred (d.608), the church has a fine mediaeval chancel, which McWilliam suggests is 'by far the most worthwhile piece of C13 church architecture in Lothian'. The square bell-tower was added in the early 17th century, with the bell dated to 1631, although it was recast in 1846. The building was enlarged in 1818-24, at which time a Laird's Room was created in the upper part of the Chancel, and the church was remodelled in 1891-2, with interior woodwork in the Jacobean style.

The stained glass is by William Wilson, with a depiction of St. Baldred dating from 1959, the same year in which the congregation here was united with St. Michael's in East Linton, which had been the Free Church (built 1879). The former manse stables were converted into a church hall in 1996 and the church was united with Stenton and Whittingehame in 1999.

Memorials in the kirkyard include those of Andrew Meikle (1719 - 1811), inventor of the threshing machine, Patrick Shirreff (1791 - 1876), who developed new varieties of cereals, artist Robert Noble (1857 - 1917) and a burial vault of the Smeaton-Hepburn family.


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