Parish Church, Main Street, Athelstaneford

The parish church, located on Main Street in Athelstaneford, dates primarily to 1864, although it incorporates fabric from an earlier church built around 1870. The building follows a cruciform plan, oriented east to west. It is constructed of squared and coursed tooled ashlar, with cream-coloured polished ashlar dressings. Features include a base course, bracketed eaves, and a cusped dormerhead ventilator in the roof.

The south elevation has an entrance through a gabled porch set in the angle to the left of the south transept. The porch features an ornamented round arched doorway with nook shafts, and a carved panel above displaying a monogram. Three round arched windows flank the left side of the elevation, each with a hoodmould. A three-light pointed arched window with cusped tracery and a hoodmould is situated above the transept. The north elevation is similar to the south, but with a boiler house to the west and a plain doorway to the north. The west elevation has a doorway within a gabled porch with an ornamented round arch and nook shafts, flanked by two small round arched windows. A glazed bulls eye window sits above, and a corbelled bellcote, with a diagonal setting, round-arched detail, and a pyramidal roof, is set into the gablehead. The east elevation features a canted apse with a corbelled table and parapet, and a single lancet window with trefoil tracery adjoining the chancel gable; two-light windows are on each return, and a lean-to porch is attached to the north.

The church contains stained glass windows. The roof is covered in grey slates, with a polygonal shape over the apse. Straight skews run along the roof, a cross finial adorns the south gable, and a single wallhead stack is located on the north side.

Inside, the interior is simple, with the apse recently remodelled. It features an arch-braced hammer beam roof. Three stained glass windows by C.E. Kempe are present on the south and east sides, along with memorials to the Kinloch of Gilmerton family.

A burial enclosure is situated in the churchyard to the south, marking the resting place of Robert Blair (1699-1746), a poet and minister from 1731 to 1746. It consists of two rusticated piers with cornices and ornamental urns, connected by wrought-ironwork incorporating the initials RMRB 1746.

A church has stood on the site since the 12th century. Around 1780, the Kinloch of Gilmerton family commissioned a new church, manse, and school. A painting by N. Cormack, dating from 1811, depicts the church at that time. Further enlargements occurred around 1868, also funded by the Kinloch family. Robert Blair, the poet who wrote THE GRAVE, and John Home, the dramatist, both served as former ministers. The Saltire flag is flown continuously in the churchyard, commemorating the legendary association with the flag's origin.