Abbey St Bathans
Abbey St Bathans (
History and Kirk
Abbey St Bathans was originally a
While there is no priory today there is a small church, or
There is evidence that Abbey St Bathans has been inhabited for at least 2,500 years with the discovery of Bronze Age artefacts including a Bronze Age dagger [citation needed], and the presence of the nearby Edins Hall Broch, an Iron Age defensive structure.[3]
The village
Abbey St Bathans village is situated beside the Whiteadder Water. The village is centred around the Kirk, a footbridge (known locally as the 'Gurkha bridge' after the Gurkha Soldiers that built it in 1987), sheep sheds, a post box, telephone exchange, phone box and housing.
Further up the valley north of the Kirk is the village hall which holds regular events and occasional exhibitions. Downriver, south of the Kirk can be found a fish farm, car park, café and small sawmill.
The
The New Zealand township of Saint Bathans is named after the village.[7]
Abbey St Bathans House
The house began, probably in the early 19th century (a date stone of 1694 is of unknown provenance) as a thatched cottage orné, set at the base of a knoll with the ground falling away steeply to the north to the Whiteadder Water. It was built for the Turnbull family. This earlier core is identifiable at the centre of the entrance front as a two-bay section with first-floor dormers rising through the eaves, and with a salient gabled section at its northern end terminating the north-west range.
Later extensions, especially in the 1870s, retain something of the original character, if not the scale, in the plethora of traceried bargeboards, dormers, and barley-sugar chimneystacks. The detailing of the north-west front is more overtly baronial, having a central tower-like pavilion with chamfered corners at the upper levels, a tall pyramidal roof, and a quadrant bartizan at the north-east angle. There are attractive interiors, particularly the stair with twisted balusters and timber arcading. Many fittings were moved here in the 1880s by Dorothea Veitch from Bassendean House.
On the estate are a picturesque lodge, stables and groom's cottage, and an artfully composed Z-plan complex including gamekeeper's cottage and kennels.
In 2019, the house was in multiple occupation.
Non profit community resources
- Abbey St Bathans, Bonkyl and Preston Community Council
- Know the code before you go (Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003)
See also
- List of places in the Scottish Borders
- List of places in Scotland
- Saint Bathans, New Zealand— a historic township named after Abbey St Bathans
- Sir Walter Scott Way
- Southern Upland Way
References
Cruft, Dunbar & Fawcett, The buildings of Scotland: Borders, 2006, p. 90
- ^ Census of Scotland 2011, Table KS101SC – Usual Resident Population, published by National Records of Scotland. Website http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ retrieved Apr 2018. See “Standard Outputs”, Table KS101SC, Area type: Civil Parish 1930, Area: Abbey St Bathans
- ^ a b "Archaeology Notes | Canmore". canmore.org.uk. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
- ^ "Edin's Hall Broch". www.historicenvironment.scot. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
- ^ "Edin's Hall Broch - Walking Scottish Borders". walkscottishborders.com. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
- ^ "Cockburn Law and Edin's Hall broch, Abbey St Bathans". Walkhighlands. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
- ^ "The Angry Corrie, edition 55". Always another closure (of youth hostels). The Angry Corrie. Archived from the original on 10 August 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
- ^ Reed, A.W. (1975) Place names of New Zealand. Wellington: A.H. & A.W. Reed. p. 371