Stobo Kirk is an ancient church of the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

. It is dedicated to St Mungo and is situated near the B712 off the A72 just 6 miles south-west of

Peebles Peebles () is a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was historically a royal burgh and the county town of Peeblesshire. According to the United Kingdom census, 2011, 2011 census, the population was 8,376 and the estimated population in ...

in the ancient county of

Peeblesshire Peeblesshire (), the County of Peebles or Tweeddale is a Counties of Scotland, historic county of Scotland. Its county town is Peebles, and it borders Midlothian to the north, Selkirkshire to the east, Dumfriesshire to the south, and Lanarkshire ...

, now part of the

Scottish Borders Council The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the ...

area. It stands near the confluence of the

River Tweed The River Tweed, or Tweed Water, is a river long that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England. Tweed cloth derives its name from its association with the River Tweed. The Tweed is one of the great salmon rivers ...

with the Easton Burn. Stobo Church

History

Early history

It is believed there has been a church on the site of present-day Stobo Kirk since as early as the 6th century.

St Kentigern Kentigern (; ), known as Mungo, was a missionary in the Brittonic Kingdom of Strathclyde in the late sixth century, and the founder and patron saint of the city of Glasgow. Name In Wales and England, this saint is known by his birth and baptis ...

, otherwise known as

St Mungo Kentigern (; ), known as Mungo, was a missionary in the Brittonic Kingdom of Strathclyde in the late sixth century, and the founder and patron saint of the city of Glasgow. Name In Wales and England, this saint is known by his birth and baptis ...

, founded many churches during his time as

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

of the ancient kingdom of

Strathclyde Strathclyde ( in Welsh language, Welsh; in Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic, meaning 'strath

alley An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane, footpath, path, or passageway, often reserved for pedestrians, which usually runs between, behind, or within buildings in towns and cities. It is also a rear access or service road (back lane), or a path, w ...

of the River Clyde') was one of nine former Local government in Scotland, local government Regions and districts of Scotland, regions of Scotland cre ...

, and Stobo is believed to be one of his foundations. Stobo was originally the 'plebania' or mother church with subordinate chapelries or churches at Dawyck,

Drumelzier Drumelzier (), is a village and civil parish on the B712 in the Tweed Valley in the Scottish Borders. The area of the village is extensive and includes the settlements of Wrae, Stanhope, Mossfennan and Kingledoors. To the north is Brought ...

Kingledoors Kingledoors is a group of settlements in a valley in southern Scotland near Tweedsmuir in the Scottish Borders, in the valley of the River Tweed. It is part of the parish of Drumelzier and is bounded on the north by Mossfennan, on the east by ...

Tweedsmuir Tweedsmuir () is a village and civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish in Tweeddale, the Scottish Borders Council district, southeastern Scotland. Geography The village is set in a valley, with the rolling hills and burns on both sides, cover ...

, Broughton, Glenholm, and Lyne.

Medieval times

A new church, the ancestor of the present building, was built in the 12th century, but is unusually on a NE-SW axes rather than the conventional E-W axes. During the 15th and 16th centuries, the Scottish people were becoming weary of the rule of

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. The church was becoming wealthy but the people were still poor and many voices spoke of reforming the church in Scotland. The people of Stobo were no different and when their canon, Adam Colquhoun, was succeeded by one of his two sons, it helped fuel the desire for a reformed church.

Post Reformation

Stobo, part of the Parish of Stobo in the

Diocese of Glasgow The Archdiocese of Glasgow was one of the thirteen (after 1633 fourteen) dioceses of the Scottish church. It was the second largest diocese in the Kingdom of Scotland, including Clydesdale, Teviotdale, parts of Tweeddale, Liddesdale, Annand ...

until the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

, appears to have retained much of the original 12th-century building, including windows, the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

, unlike many other Roman Catholic churches which were destroyed after the coming of the reformed religion. The tower was raised above first-floor level in the 16th century, and further major restoration was carried out in 1863 by

John Lessels John Lessels (9 January 1809 – 12 November 1883) was a Scottish architect and artist, active in Edinburgh and the Scottish Borders (particularly in the former county of Berwickshire). Life He was born and educated in Kirkcaldy, Fife, and ...

, an eminent 19th-century architect. Further major restoration work was carried out in 1929. The church exterior is not so inviting but the interior is of great interest and character.

Legend

Legend has it that St Kentigern converted

Myrddin Wyllt Myrddin Wyllt (—"Myrddin the Wild", , ) is a figure in medieval Welsh legend. In Middle Welsh poetry he is accounted a chief bard, the speaker of several poems in The Black Book of Carmarthen and The Red Book of Hergest. He is called ''Wyl ...

(Merlin Sylvestris)Seymour; p. 9 or

Merlin The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...

(the wizard associated with King Arthur) to Christianity and baptised him on a boulder near

. Merlin had fled to the forest after Gwenddoleu had been defeated and killed at the battle of Arderydd near

Arthuret Arthuret is a civil parish in Cumbria, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,434, increasing to 2,471 at the 2011 census. The parish includes the town of Longtown and the village of Easton. It is bounded by the River Es ...

in 573. There is a great rock at the spot known as the 'Altar Stone' and a stained glass window in Stobo Kirk commemorates the event.

Description of the kirk building

Both the church and the graveyard are B listed.

Porch

The porch was added in the late 15th–16th century and is notable for the grooves in the left-hand doorjamb, created by pupils sharpening their slate pencils before class and possibly by the sharpening of arrow heads prior to the weekly after-church archery practice which became compulsory after the disaster of the

Battle of Flodden The Battle of Flodden, Flodden Field, or occasionally Branxton or Brainston Moor was fought on 9 September 1513 during the War of the League of Cambrai between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland and resulted in an English victory ...

. The 12th-century Norman entrance into the nave has a door made from a single board of

cedar Cedar may refer to: Trees and plants *''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae * Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar Places United States * Cedar, Arizona ...

wood from the nearby Dawyck estate.Seymour, Page 1 On the outer entrance hangs the old

Jougs The jougs, juggs, or joggs (, from Latin , a yoke) is a metal collar formerly used as an instrument of punishment in Scotland, the Netherlands and other countries. When the soldiers of Oliver Cromwell's army occupied Scotland, they were horrified ...

used to punish recalcitrant members of the parish until some time in the 18th century.

Nave

A much damaged Celtic cross was found in the stonework during restoration and a reconstruction has been placed in the nave. The red paint on the stonework is a reminder of the original brightly painted character of pre-Reformation churches.

North aisle chapel

Reconstructed in 1928 in a style reminiscent of the

Arts and Crafts Movement The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America. Initiat ...

, in the erroneous belief that this was the site of Saint Kentigern's Chapel, the structure incorporates a standing stone in the wall. It was probably a chantry or mortuary aisle of the 15th century.Seymour, p. 4 The 14th burial slab of Robert Vesey, and others of a local miller and a knight in armour are preserved in the aisle. The altar stone may be linked to the conversion of Merlin Sylvestris by Saint Kentigern (Mungo).

Graves of Note

As part of the 1928 restoration three tombstones were moved from the floor to the chapel walls. The most important bears the inscription (in Latin) "Here lies Mr Robert Vessy sometime vicar of Stobo who died on the 10th day of May in the year of Our Lord 1473". A second shows a full length figure of a man in partial armour with a sword by his side, dating from the second half of the 16th century. The third stone is incomplete.

Tower

The tower may be 12th-century in origin; however, it has been rebuilt several times. It gave access to the 'Laird's Loft' and now contains a meeting room as well as the vestry. Blocked-up windows of a likely 16th-century date are present.

Brass hanging lamps

The Balfour family of

Stobo Castle Stobo Castle is located at Stobo in the Scottish Borders, in the Counties of Scotland, former county of Peeblesshire. The building of the present castle began in 1805 and was completed in 1811 under the supervision of architects Archibald Ellio ...

presented a number of brass hanging lamps to the kirk and one of these has been identified as being manufactured in

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

by Hans Muller between 1693 and 1701. The others are copies or by other

craftsmen.

'Stobo Kirk' by James McIntosh Patrick

The kirk is the subject of paintings by the 20th-century Scottish landscape painter

James McIntosh Patrick James McIntosh Patrick, OBE RSA (4 February 1907 – 7 April 1998) was a Scottish painter, celebrated for his finely observed paintings of the Angus landscape and Dundee, Scotland, where he was based for most of his life. Life Born in Dun ...

(1907–98), including the well-known 'Stobo Kirk' (1939) in the

National Galleries of Scotland The National Galleries of Scotland (, sometimes also known as National Galleries Scotland) is the executive non-departmental public body that controls the three national galleries of Scotland and two partner galleries, forming one of the Nation ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Footnotes

Sources

*Groome, Francis H. (1903) ''Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland''. Vol. 1. London: Caxton Publishing Company *Seymour, Camilla & Randall, John (2007) ''Stobo Kirk: a guide to the building and its history''. Peebles: John Randall

External links

Historic Environment, listed building no. 15356Stobo Kirk
Canmore – Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland {{Coord, 55.625544, N, 3.299381, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Peeblesshire Churches in the Scottish Borders Category B listed buildings in the Scottish Borders Listed churches in Scotland