Hearse House, Bolton Parish Church

Bolton Parish Church, likely designed by Archibald Elliot in 1809 with James Burn as overseeing architect, is a simple Gothic church with a tower. The church is constructed from rubble sandstone with ashlar dressings from the Abbeymains Quarry, featuring a base course, rolled cornice, blocking course, moulded jambs, and stone mullions.

The tower is adjoined to the west end of the nave and has three stages separated by a string course, with angle buttresses to the second stage. A round arched doorway with a cavetto and roll-moulded surround, featuring a hoodmould and double doors, provides access. Tripartite lancet windows are positioned to the west, north, and south in the second stage, and there are louvred round arched tripartites on each face at the third stage. A crenellated parapet sits atop elongated diesses bearing crocketted pinnacles.

The nave has two bays, with hoodmoulded lancets flanking the tower. Y-traceried pointed arch windows are present in each bay of the north and south elevations, and in the east gable end. Timber diamond-pane glazing is housed within sash and case windows on the north and south sides. The roof is covered with grey slates.

The interior is simple, featuring painted plastered walls with a moulded cornice and comb ceiling. A central aisle runs the length of the church, and a gallery with box pews is located at the west end. Two winding stone staircases provide access to the gallery. The gallery features clustered cast-iron columns, and decorative electric “gas-lamp” centre lights illuminate the space. Stained glass windows at the east end depict Martha at the Tomb. A simple Gothic pine communion table, pulpit, and organ cases are also present.

A Stuart mausoleum, dating to around 1800, is located on the site. This mausoleum houses the remains of the Stuarts of Eaglescairnie and is a square, symmetrical neo-classical ashlar cube with a dome, incorporating base and blocking courses, and a moulded cornice. Recessed round arched panels are present on each face, with arrow slits on three sides and a boarded door on the fourth. A low ashlar coped rubble enclosure adjoins the doorway elevation.

The hearse house is a gabled rectangular structure connecting with the adjoining stables of the former manse, set within the graveyard walls to the east. It is constructed of rubble with ashlar coped skews, with carriage doors to the west end and ventilation slits to the sides.

Rubble retaining walls, coped at the top, are present on the site. The building is an ecclesiastical building in current use as a Church of Scotland. A grave-guard stands in the vestibule at the foot of the tower, accompanied by an explanatory panel detailing its origin following the 1832 Anatomy Act, which aimed to prevent "Resurrectionists" or "Body-snatchers.” Agnes Burns, mother of the poet Robert Burns, and two of her children are buried within the churchyard. A bronze commemorative plaque on the retaining walls marks their presence. The parishes of Yester, Humbie, and Bolton have been historically linked.