Newbattle Parish Church

Newbattle Parish Church

Alexander McGill designed this church in 1727, with later alterations. It is a 6-bay, T-plan building constructed of sandstone rubble with raised droved, stugged and chamfered ashlar dressings. The quoins are raised droved and stugged, while the base and eaves courses are of raised ashlar. Slaister pointing appears in places. The church is topped with a pitched slate roof with a lead ridge, coping to the gables, and moulded stone eaves. A splay-footed roof with weathervane crowns the bell tower.

The building comprises a 3-stage bell tower to the east and a 2-storey aisle to the west. The east front elevation is symmetrical with five bays (plus an extra bay to an extended north aisle set back with a geometric arched window), dominated by an advanced central tower. The outer bays have round-arched windows with timber tracery, while a blocked doorway sits below these windows. The inner bays flanking the tower contain stained glass lancet windows. The first stage of the tower features a central studded timber 2-leaf door with a stained glass oculus above bearing a dated keystone inscribed '1727'. Above the cornice at the second stage sits a trefoil oculus. The third stage bell tower has voussoired and louvred arched openings on each elevation. Roll moulded stage courses appear above the first and second stages, with moulded stone eaves to each stage elevation.

The north elevation displays two arched windows with timber tracery, a central multifoil oculus above them, and a trefoil window in the apex. The south elevation shows a blocked door positioned between two arched windows with timber tracery; the stairs have been removed from this location. A central multifoil stained glass oculus breaks the eaves course, and a blocked trefoil window appears in the apex.

The west rear elevation is complex, with two outshot additions that partly cover blocked oculi. The left outshot houses stone steps to the galleries with a door in the left return. A brick structure with an arch bridges these steps to the west gallery, with a door to the church positioned below the bridge. An advanced 2-bay wing has a modern door to the left, a blocked window to the right, and a first-floor window centred above the door with a blocked window to the right. Three ground-floor windows (two of stained glass) face the left and right returns; three first-floor windows (one blocked) face the right return, and two first-floor windows (one blocked) face the left return. The far right outshot houses the organ with a blocked opening and a door in the right return. The west aisle has 18-pane timber sash and case windows at first floor, with original 12-pane sash and case windows at ground floor. Slate catslides cover the west elevation porches. A gable apex stack rises from the west gable, and a wallhead chimney appears on the right return. Timber doors with side panels lead to the outshots and stone steps.

Interior

The entrance is located in the tower, previously the vestry, and features a stone flag floor with a bench to the walls. A red baize door to the left opens into the church proper, framed by a black marble door surround. The pulpit stands centred in front of the tower, with a timber staircase to the left leading to an elevated pulpit (except for the bottom tread, which is Iona stone). The timber pulpit has a 17th-century upper half with arcaded fluted pilasters and Corinthian capitals. A low arcaded timber screen with a door behind the pulpit opens into the Ancrum Aisle at the second stage of the tower. The Ancrum Aisle was constructed in 1895 in memory of the Earl of Ancrum and contains two marble wall memorials carved with the Lothian coat of arms, dedicated to the Earl of Ancrum and his father, the 9th Earl of Lothian. A stone font bowl on a later plinth stands to the right of the pulpit.

Tiered timber pews occupy the right side of the pulpit, with additional timber pews to the left and opposite, all separated by a central aisle of stone flags and timber floorboards. The pews feature moveable backs in some cases, which fold to create pew communion tables. A gallery to the left of the pulpit is supported on columns with timber panelling to the front pew. The north aisle cornice abruptly stops with scrolled brackets, indicating the former gable end of the church. A timber-framed opening leads to the Laird's Loft above, which contains tiered pews. A vestibule beneath the Laird's Loft is situated to the rear of the pews in the west aisle and features green marble. Various brass wall plaques and stone memorials adorn the interior, including a marble wall monument with Corinthian columns to J C Carrick in the north aisle.

The church contains numerous stained glass windows. A rose window in the south aisle is dedicated to Catherine Hamilton, mother of J Arnott Hamilton, who was minister of Newbattle from 1922 to 1952, and is flanked by two windows honouring the Royal Army Medical Corps stationed at Newbattle during the Second World War and all those who fought in it. Two windows flanking the Ancrum Aisle are dedicated to Margaret Craig of Craigesk House and depict the care of the elderly and religious instruction of the young. Four fine windows in the west aisle represent the Gospel writers and were created by John Duncan, RSA, in 1934 and 1935.