Coldingham Priory Church

A rectangular-plan parish church of composite Norman and First Pointed Gothic style. It incorporates fabric dating from the 11th century onwards including fabric from the 13th century cruciform-plan priory on the site. The building was extensively remodeled in 1662 with further work in 1851-55. A former hearse house, built around 1850, is located at the west entrance to the graveyard. The church is surrounded by an irregular-plan graveyard.

In accordance with Section 1 (4A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 the following is excluded from the listing: scheduled monument SM383.

The Priory Church is built in coursed pink and red sandstone. Each corner has a full-height square-plan tower with a pyramidal cap. Full-height and plain pilasters divide each bay of the east, north and west elevations. The bays have round-arched, blind arcading with chevrons and engaged colonnettes and there are pointed-arch lancet windows above. The south elevation has a gabled entrance porch, a pointed-arch bellcote and an engaged stair tower in the re-entrant angle to the right. There is a two-leaf timber door surrounded by a chevron moulded arch. The stained glass windows include work by Robert Home, dated 1904. Other windows are predominantly leaded diamond-pane glazing. The roof has grey slates with coped skews and parapet. Rainwater goods are cast iron.

The interior, seen in 1999, has a vestibule with a stair accessing the vestry to the northeast. The nave has a boarded timber floor, timber pews and an open beamed roof with boarded timber ceiling. The altar is at the east end and there is a large pipe organ at the west end. The west, north and east walls have continuous pointed-arch arcading at ground level with free-standing ashlar columns, foliate capitals, moulded arches and spandrel motifs. The clerestory level to the north and east walls has an arcaded walkway with free-standing clustered columns and tall nook shafts framing the lancet windows.

The former hearse house and store is a single storey, rectangular-plan, sandstone rubble building. It has a large two-leaf boarded timber door in the southwest gable with a small pointed-arch opening above the door. The northeast gable has a pointed-arch window with Y-tracery. The southwest elevation has a boarded timber door in a shouldered-arch surround and a small pointed-arch opening to the left. The roof has grey slates and coped skews. The interior was not seen in 1999. The sandstone gatepiers are square-plan with tiered pyramidal caps and have iron gates with a cross motif. The northern gatepier adjoins the south corner of the former hearse house.

The memorial stones in the irregular-plan graveyard include table-top monuments, classically-detailed stones, obelisks, decorative grave slabs and stones with carved memento-mori symbols.

Post-medieval rubble boundary walls, partially rebuilt and of varying height, enclose the graveyard.