Mordington, Old Parish Church, Burial-ground With Burial Vault

Heritage listing

Date Added 18/01/2010 Type Ecclesiastical: burial avile/vault; church, Secular: field system; settlement, including deserted and depopulated and townships Local Authority Scottish Borders Parish Mordington NGR NT 95099 55865 Coordinates 395099, 655865 — The monument comprises the remains of Mordington village, an abandoned later medieval settlement, and the site of Mordington parish church and its associated burial ground. A settlement at Mordington is first mentioned in charters dating to the late 11th century and appears to have existed until at least the mid-17th century, while parsons of Mordington appear in late 13th century charters, but the church is likely to have been founded at an earlier date. The site of Mordington church, destroyed by fire in 1757, lies within an oval enclosure. The only upstanding element of the building is a burial vault, which appears to have been freestanding. The burial enclosure may be of 15th- or 16th-century date, although it is thought to have undergone substantial restoration in the 19th century. Rectangular on plan, the burial vault is stone-built and measures around 6m by 3.7m standing almost fully intact apart from its flagstone roofing. The top of the internal vault is now exposed and is overgrown with turf and shrubs. The exterior of the burial vault has little decoration apart from a simple moulded cornice at the wall-head and the doorway on the east has a roll-moulded border. An inscribed stone with the letters WM carved upon it, previously recorded as 'W M 1662', lies near the door. The interior of the burial vault is approximately 3m high and is a plain semi-circular barrel vault that has little interior decoration other than the inscription 'JP, JK, WJ, 1869' incised on a stone set into the vaulted roof, possibly commemo

From Historic Environment Scotland under OGL v3.