St Ninian's Church, Lamington

St Ninian's Church, Lamington

A small Post-Reformation rectangular church of four bays, believed to date from 1721, incorporating a 12th-century Norman doorway from an earlier building on the site. The church was substantially renovated in 1828 and again around 1880. It stands prominently within a rare circular graveyard enclosure, a distinctive and unusual plan form.

The church is constructed of stone with a slate roof featuring circular ridge ventilators and ashlar coped skews. The principal external features include pointed-arched windows to the sides with margined, diamond-pane leaded glazing and coloured glass. Doorways are positioned at each gable end. A prominent gabled stone bellcote with round arch, dentilled eaves and a round-arched canopy on recessed pillars crowns the structure. A stone cross stands at the south gable apex.

The 12th-century Norman doorway, now blocked, is notable for its chevron-carved voussoirs and contains a carved First World War memorial within it. Cast-iron rainwater goods with decorative hoppers serve the roof.

The interior is plainly rendered and finished to a good standard. A timber-panelled balcony on slender cast-iron columns occupies the east end, while a timber-panelled pulpit stands at the west end. The ceiling is timber-boarded with combed decoration and features decorative cast-iron ventilator grilles. Brass light fittings and hinged ventilator hoods are set to the side walls. Doors have panelled pointed-arch frames. A large classical wall monument to Lady Ross Baillie is prominent, and the inscription "Worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness" is painted in decorative scroll above the pulpit.

The 1828 renovation was extensive and costly (£300 for the combined Wandel and Lamington parishes). This work raised the building height, introduced the larger pointed-arch windows, and created doors at each gable end to serve both parishes, originally with external stairs leading to internal balconies at each end facing one another. The pulpit was initially positioned at the south side with a canopy. Around 1880, under the direction of Lord Lamington, the west balcony was removed, the pulpit relocated to the west end, a small four-pane window was added to the south elevation, and the external stairs were removed. The bellcote was also rebuilt at this time.

The graveyard is enclosed by rare circular-plan rubble walls with curved cappings that retain higher ground within the enclosure. The headstones are predominantly from the 19th century, with good examples from the 18th century and some possibly earlier. A notable cast-iron tomb with railings commemorates the Reverend Charles Hore, who died in 1862.

The church's bell has a notable history. Session records indicate that a bell, dated 1647 and made by Joannes Monteith, was put up by the Laird of Lamington. This bell is now housed in the Moat Park Museum in Biggar. The current bell dates from 1929 and was installed following the 1880 rebuild of the belfry.

The church was noted in Groome's Gazetteer (1882) as "St Ninians Parish Church with 300 sittings, a fine Norman archway and a bell dated 1647". By 2009, the building was being used as a storage facility for Biggar Museums Trust.