Chirnside Parish Church

The first records of Chirnside and its church came in the early 12th century during the reign of King Edgar of Scotland (1097 1107), in a charter granting the lands and church to the monks of Durham. The 12th-century church was known as Ecclesia de Chirnyside and it was valued at 50 merks. The first church at Chirnside was a plain rectangular building with a thatched roof and earthen floor. The altar dominated the east end and a priest would conduct daily mass, probably from a pulpit near the altar. The Ecclesia de Chirnyside was dedicated, like many other church establishments in the area, by David de Bernham, Bishop of St Andrews, on 13 April 1242. In 1524 a young man named Luke Acheson,…