Documents

Where documents include maps, the use of this data is subject to terms and conditions (https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/termsandconditions).

The legal document available for download below constitutes the formal designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The additional details provided on this page are provided for information purposes only and do not form part of the designation. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within this additional information.

• Type

  Legal Documents

  Title

  SM5671_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600011569)

Summary

Description

The monument consists of the remains of Bathgate Old Parish Church. The structure, situated in an old graveyard was granted to Holyrood Abbey by Malcolm IV (1153-65); it then passed to Newbattle Abbey, the gift being confirmed in 1372. It was abandoned in 1739.

The church is a narrow, oblong building measuring 30.1m E-W by 7.9m N-S over walls 0.8m thick. The masonry is mainly rubble but this is intermingled with ashlar suggesting the existence of a much earlier building on the site. The W gable remains intact though fissured (c.6m high) and is intaken on both faces at wallhead level. A small lintelled window lights the W gable. The E gable has been partly

rebuilt and rounded off during consolidation, probably in 1846.

The lower part of a central buttress has been retained in the E gable and above it carved fragments have been incorporated in the wall: part of a quatrefoil and a grave tablet with a book and a pair of crossed bones. The intervening wallheads have also been neatened. The

entrance is in the N wall through the remains of a late transitional doorway (c.1200). On either side of the doorway were nook-shafts but these have vanished.

The remaining somewhat weathered capitals have waterleaf carving and square abaci. A transitional window, splayed

and checked externally pierces the E part of the N wall. The remains of a round-headed and chamfered priest's door can be seen in the S wall. This door has been bisected by the insertion of a 19th-century upright tomb. Also included in the scheduling is the 13th-century recumbent effigy of an ecclesiastic which lies under the NE window (dug up in the interior in 1852). A decorated 16th- century tombstone which has been cracked has been fixed into the S wall.

Lying against the E buttress is part of a medieval tombstone showing a crudely incised cross with bulbous ends. The area to be scheduled is rectangular, extending 2m from the exterior walls of the church, measuring a maximum of 34.1m E-W by 11.9m N-S as shown in red on the accompanying map.

Statement of National Importance

The monument is of national importance because it is a good example of a medieval parish church which provides evidence and has the potential to provide further evidence, through excavation and analysis, for ecclesiastical architecture, sculpture and the evolution of the parish system in medieval Scotland.

References

Bibliography

About Scheduled Monuments

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.

Scheduling is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for monuments and archaeological sites of national importance as set out in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.

We schedule sites and monuments that are found to be of national importance using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Scheduled monument records provide an indication of the national importance of the scheduled monument which has been identified by the description and map. The description and map (see ‘legal documents’ above) showing the scheduled area is the designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The statement of national importance and additional information provided are supplementary and provided for general information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within the statement of national importance or additional information. These records are not definitive historical or archaeological accounts or a complete description of the monument(s).

The format of scheduled monument records has changed over time. Earlier records will usually be brief. Some information will not have been recorded and the map will not be to current standards. Even if what is described and what is mapped has changed, the monument is still scheduled.

Scheduled monument consent is required to carry out certain work, including repairs, to scheduled monuments. Applications for scheduled monument consent are made to us. We are happy to discuss your proposals with you before you apply and we do not charge for advice or consent. More information about consent and how to apply for it can be found on our website at www.historicenvironment.scot.

Find out more about scheduling and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.