Listed Building

The only legal part of the listing under the Planning (Listing Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 is the address/name of site. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing – see 'About Listed Buildings' below for more information. The further details below the 'Address/Name of Site' are provided for information purposes only.

Address/Name of Site

ST DIONYSIUS' CHURCH (REMAINS OF)LB1986

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
B
Date Added
09/06/1971
Local Authority
Scottish Borders
Planning Authority
Scottish Borders
Parish
Ayton
NGR
NT 92794 60953
Coordinates
392794, 660953

Description

Earlier to mid 12th century; extensively altered and rebuilt late 18th century; now ruinous. Roofless remains of former Ayton Church, set in graveyard, to NE of later Ayton Parish Church. W and E gables and much of S wall missing. Majority of N wall, N aisle and bell tower, and SE burial aisle in place. Originally rectangular-plan, later made T-plan with addition of N aisle. Harl-pointed sandstone rubble (squared and weathered in part); ashlar upper to bell tower; ashlar dressings throughout. Quoins; long and short surrounds to openings (blocked in part). Various burial aisles and enclosures incorporated within remains, including Fordyce family aisle to SE with large, round-arched, traceried window centred in S gable (2 sandstone mullions; single transom; round-arched heads); gravestones within; iron-railed enclosure to side. Overgrown burial aisle to NE (Alexander Skene). Various plaques and gravestones set in walls. Full-width, single storey, lean-to projection adjoining S elevation N aisle.

Statement of Special Interest

No longer in ecclesiastical use. A picturesque, ivy-clad group of ruins, thought to date, in part, from the 12th century, shortly after Ayton was granted to Durham Monastery. Dedicated to St Dionysius, this was originally a chapel attached to Coldingham, as Ayton was not a parish in its own right until after The Reformation. According to Binnie, as the "...first church of any size in Scotland", the building was used for a series of significant meetings between the Scots and the English, such as that which, in 1380, saw the renewal of the truce between the 2 countries. Much of what remains today is thought to date from the late 18th century when, according to THE STATISTICAL ACCOUNT, several improvements were carried out. These improvements are thought to include the building of the

N aisle, the bell tower and the SE burial aisle. Originally thought to be the S transept, most now agree that this was built specifically as a burial aisle, added to the E end of the S wall. See separate list entries for the surrounding graveyard ('St Dionysius' Church (remains of), Graveyard') and the nearby Ayton Parish Church.

References

Bibliography

STATISTICAL ACCOUNT (1791) p83. Sharp, Greenwood & Fowler's map, 1826 (site marked). NEW STATISTICAL ACCOUNT (completed 1834, published 1845) pp144-145. Ordnance Survey Name Book (1856-1858) Reel 60, Book 3, NMRS. Ordnance Survey map, 1860 (evident). D MacGibbon & T Ross THE ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE OF SCOTLAND, Vol 3 (1897) p543. BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB TRANSACTIONS, Vol 13 (1890-91) pp93-95.

J Robson THE CHURCHES AND CHURCHYARDS OF BERWICKSHIRE (1896) pp12-14. BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB TRANSACTIONS, Vol 16 (1896-98) pp18-19. BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB TRANSACTIONS, Vol 21 (1909-11) p241. RCAHMS 6TH REPORT & INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS & CONSTRUCTIONS IN THE COUNTY OF BERWICK (1915) p4. C A Strang BORDERS AND BERWICK: AN ILLUSTRATED ARCHITECTURAL GUIDE (1994) p22. G A C Binnie THE CHURCHES AND GRAVEYARDS OF BERWICKSHIRE (1995) pp24-26. NMRS photographic records.

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

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Printed: 28/03/2024 20:24