Old Cambus, St Helen's Church

Heritage listing

Date Added 17/03/1936 Last Date Amended 26/01/2000 Type Crosses and carved stones: tombstone, Ecclesiastical: church Local Authority Scottish Borders Parish Cockburnspath NGR NT 80376 70666 Coordinates 380376, 670666 — The monument consists of the remains of St Helen's Church, its kirkyard and associated funerary monuments. The monument was first scheduled in 1936. On this occasion, an inadequate area was included to protect all of the archaeological remains: the present rescheduling rectifies this. The remains of the church consist of a nave measuring 10.6m by 5.3m and a chancel measuring 4.7m by 3.4m. The E and S walls of the chancel only survive at ground level, but the N wall still stands 3-4m high. Parts of the N and S walls of the nave stand 1-2m in height. At the W end of the N and S walls, rough openings may indicate the position of two entrance doorways. The S wall also contains the remains of two arched recesses, which were perhaps tomb recesses. The W gable is almost complete to its wall head. The whole church was roofed with a barrel vault, of which only a few indications now remain. The church largely dates to the 12th century with some alterations dating to the 15th century. The east gable, demolished in the mid-19th century, contained a narrow round-headed window with a deep and wide internal splay, with a single chevron detail around the arch and jambs. A round-headed chancel arch of two plain orders also existed. The west gable, the most complete wall of the structure, has angle buttresses, suggesting that this element of the structure was rebuilt in the 15th century. The wall has no openings but the interior of the gable has numerous putlog holes for supporting the scaffolding used during its construction. The barrel-vault over the nave may relate to t

From Historic Environment Scotland under OGL v3.