Ancient Lothian: Historic Edinburgh and South-East Scotland

¤ bathgate auld parish kirk
a monkish place
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Bathgate Auld Parish Kirk lies on the South side of Edinburgh Road (A89) on the Eastern side of the town, approaching from the direction of Dechmont.

This kirk is currently in a roofless, fairly ruinous condition, although its outer walls are reasonably intact, as is its graveyard. The layout is clearly on a simple rectangular plan, indicating a pre-Reformation design.

Auld Parish Kirk, North Wall, Looking West Auld Parish Kirk, North Wall, Looking East
Auld Parish Kirk, North Wall, Looking West & East

The kirk has a long although fairly obscure history, but was granted to Holyrood Abbey by Malcolm IV in the C12th. Later, a connection with the C13th Ratho Kirk may be possible, given the existence of the Fief of Ratho and Bathgate during the time of the de Bohun earls and Alexander III.

These photographs show the simple rectangular structure with few surviving internal features, surrounded by a primarily Victorian graveyard.

Auld Parish Kirk, South Wall Inside Auld Parish Kirk, Looking West
Auld Parish Kirk, South Wall & Inside Auld Parish Kirk, Looking West

However, along the Northern wall, inside the kirk, a medieval tombstone representing a priest still exists in good condition, which may date back to the C13th.

Inside Auld Parish Kirk, ?C13th Tombstone
Inside Auld Parish Kirk, ?C13th Tombstone
Hand-Made in West Lothian, Scotland