Parish Church And Churchyard, East Saltoun

This is a late Gothic T-plan parish church with an associated churchyard, likely designed by Robert Burn and built in 1805. It incorporates fragments of an earlier church. The church is constructed of deeply droved sandstone and features lancet windows with stone mullions, impost bands, chamfered reveals, and hoodmoulds. The building is topped with a crenellated parapet incorporating diminutive pinnacles and crocketted bartizans at the corners.

The main body of the church, running east to west, has a doorway set within a pointed arch recessed panel on the east gable. Flanking the entrance bay are circular panels containing blind quatrefoils, and there are louvred openings in the gablehead behind the parapet. The west gable is similarly detailed. Three-light windows are on the north and south returns, both to the east and west of the tower.

The north jamb, containing the Saltoun Aisle, includes a Fletcher vault. The north gable features a three-light window flanked by quatrefoil panes, with a further quatrefoil in the gablehead. The Fletcher vault has a pointed arch panel and decorative stone balustrade above, incorporating fleur-de-lys, a blank tablet, and panelled dies on steps to the east and west. The return elevations of the aisle each have three bays with a single lancet window at the center, a doorway below on the west return, and two-light windows flanking it.

The tower, which is centrally positioned on the south elevation, is square in plan and rises two stages to a height of 99 feet. It features an impost course, diagonal guilloche and band courses. A three-light window is on the south side, flanked by quatrefoils and a memorial dedication panel above. Single lancet windows are on the east and west return elevations. A clock (installed after 1876) is set within a square, hoodmoulded panel on the south, east, and west elevations, featuring Roman numerals. The tower is topped with an octagonal stone spire, which has three tiers of quatrefoil lucarnes and a simple finial. The bell dates from 1806. Burial plots are indicated by alphabetical inscriptions on the quoins.

The interior was remodelled in 1885, possibly by John Lessells. Galleries were removed, the walls are boarded to dado height, and a coomb ceiling was installed. A vestry is located at the foot of the tower, with a doorway to the left of the pulpit. A decorative canopy adorns the panelled pulpit. Stained glass is present in the three-light windows, including one depicting the Trinity, which was added after 1944.

The churchyard walls are constructed of rubble coped rubble retaining walls. Within the churchyard are some fine 18th-century gravestones, a classical burial enclosure, and decorative wrought-iron railings that adjoin the Fletcher vault and extend north, featuring a variety of fine finials.