Dirleton Parish Church And Burial-Ground

Dirleton Parish Church, dating from after 1612, is a post-Reformation church built on a long, narrow plan. It includes a west tower, and a south aisle, known as the Archerfield aisle, which was added between 1656 and 1674. The west tower was raised in 1825 to four stages, and a north vestry was added later. The church is constructed of sandstone rubble, formerly harled, with freestone ashlar dressings and substantial ashlar masonry to the aisle. It has a slate roof with overlapping slabs on the aisle.

The south elevation originally presented a low, long form, with a former entrance that is now a window on the left side and round arched windows. The Archerfield aisle projects significantly to the right, built in a solid Scottish Renaissance style. It features a casped, Gothic tripartite window with loop tracery and a round arch, set within a moulded panel. Rusticated corner piers, a raised cill, and a base course are present, along with dentil corbels supporting a shallow pediment above the cill. A cartouche panel displaying the arms of James Maxwell is set into the pediment. A doorway is located to the east, with double doors set within an architrave, the keystone linked to the pediment which bears the Maxwell shield. A corbelled memorial panel is positioned to the right of the doorway.

The north elevation features a later 19th-century gabled vestry projecting at the centre. Flanking bays are also gabled, with round arched windows breaking the eaves. A former doorway on the right side has been blocked and replaced with a window.

The four-stage west tower is set flush into the west gable. A modern doorway is at the base, with a small, round light on the first stage. The second stage has a pointed arched opening with louvred lights and triple arched louvred lights above. A corbelled parapet is present, with gabletted angle pinnacles and a raised cross incised on each face. A stair turret is positioned to the north, topped with a conical roof at the lower belfry level. The upper two stages of the south and east sides mirror the design of the west side.

The east elevation formerly had a central doorway, blocked in 1930, and replaced with a Y-traceried round arched window featuring interesting tracery. A wall monument from 1728 is located to the left of the window, a Doric aedicule with a swan neck pediment and cartouche, flanked by strapwork carving including symbols of mortality.

The interior is simply arranged and decorated. It was reorganized in the 1930s when a gallery was removed and a chancel was added. The roof is an open tie beam timber structure with a stone barrel vault to the aisle. Stained glass windows in three lights within the aisle depict “St Francis and the Animals,” created in 1935 by Margaret Chilton, executed by Marjorie Kemp under FC Mears. There is an oak pulpit and lectern, and an organ installed by Ingram and Co in 1900. The tower is vaulted at ground level, with a stair turret leading to the bell-chamber above.

The graveyard contains notable 18th-century monuments, including an elaborate Baroque adstone to George Seton, located southwest of the church. A stone featuring an unusual mask and artisan details is set into the west wall.

A coped, squared rubble wall, with polygonal, stugged ashlar gatepiers with pyramidal caps, forms the boundary. Decorative iron gates and overthrow are present, with a pedestrian entrance to the west. A coped rubble boundary wall extends north and west.