Ellem Church, church and burial ground

Heritage listing

Date Added 18/01/2010 Type Ecclesiastical: burial ground, cemetery, graveyard; church Local Authority Scottish Borders Parish Cranshaws NGR NT 72851 60197 Coordinates 372851, 660197 — The monument comprises the former parish church of Ellem and an associated burial ground surrounding the structure. It survives as the largely turf-covered footprint and lower courses of a ruined building surrounded by uneven ground that contains a number of burials and burial markers. The church was dedicated by the Bishop of St Andrews on 11 March 1243 by which time it had been annexed to the Hospital at Duns. The church occupies the crest of a small hill that overlooks the Whiteadder Water at a height of around 175m above sea level. The church measures around 17m ENE-WSW by around 5m transversely. Although most of the walls now survive as only turf-covered footings, an upstanding fragment of the S wall survives and this measures approximately 3m in length, 1m thick and stands to around six courses high. Little evidence survives for the surrounding burial ground mentioned in records in 1667. There are two gravestones surviving to the south of the S wall fragment, along with part of a third. The area to be scheduled is irregular on plan, to include the remains described and an area around within which associated remains may be expected to be found, as shown in red on the accompanying map. Specifically excluded are the above-ground elements of the post-and-wire fence to the north and the wooden fence to the east, to allow for their maintenance.

From Historic Environment Scotland under OGL v3.