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Hutton Parish Church
- Dedication: unknown
- Diocese of St Andrews
- Deanery of Merse
- NT 90752 54009
Summary description
Rebuilt in 1765 and again in 1834-35; augmented in 1879 with a porch and vestry; re- ordered in 1936. The roof was replaced in 1961 and a false ceiling installed in 1971.
Historical outline
Dedication: unknown
What appears to be the earliest surviving record of the church of Hutton is a note of its dedication by Bishop David de Bernham of St Andrews on 6 April 1243.(1) It appears as a free parsonage in 1275/6 in the second year of taxation recorded in the accounts of the papal tax-collector in Scotland, assessed at three merks.(2)
It was still a free parsonage in 1408 when William Brown, rector of Hutton, describing himself as tutor of William Douglas, earl of Angus, supplicated the pope for permission to hold a canonry and prebend in the collegiate church of Abernethy along with the church ‘which because of wars for ten years he has been unable to possess fully or even hope to do so’.(3) In 1415 James of Edinburgh was inducted to the church, vacant by the resignation of Brown, at which time it was noted that the patronage of Hutton lay with Archibald, earl of Douglas.(4)
Hutton’s independence ended in April 1451 when William, 8th earl of Douglas, granted the church to the collegiate church of Dunglass.(5) A vicarage appears to have been instituted following the annexation as a mandate of Pope Nicholas V in 1454 instructs the collation of Andrew Matheson, clerk, Aberdeen diocese, to the perpetual vicarage, vacant by the deaths of William Gibson and Robert Kirkwood.(6) The annexation was confirmed by Pope Sixtus IV in 1476, it being noted that Earl William had granted the patronage of Hutton to the provostry of Dunglass, from which had followed its appropriation.(7) At the same time, arrangements were made for the annexation of the former parish of Wester Upsettlington to Hutton, the former being described as having been destroyed in war and the parishioners left destitute of proper spiritual care. The perpetual vicarages of the two parish churches would be united and, thereafter, be in the presentation of the provost of Dunglass who had the presentation of the vicarage of Hutton.(8) The union appears to have remained in force down to the Reformation. In 1539 it was noted that the vicarages of Edrom and Hutton pertained to the provostry of the collegiate church,(9) but there is no individual entry recording the arrangements in the Books of Assumption compiled in the 1560s.
Notes
1. A O Anderson (ed), Early Sources of Scottish History, ii (Edinburgh, 1922), 523 [Pontifical Offices of St Andrews].
2. A I Dunlop (ed), ‘Bagimonds Roll: Statement of the Tenths of the Kingdom of Scotland’, Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, vi (1939), 59.
3. Calendar of Papal Letters to Scotland of Benedict XIII of Avignon 1394-1419, ed F McGurk (Scottish History Society, 1976), 187-188 [hereafter CPL, Benedict XIII].
5. HMC, Twelfth Report, Appendix, Part viii, The Manuscripts of the Duke of Athol KT and of the Earl of Home (London, 1891), 127 (no.126.
6. Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers Relating to Great Britain and Ireland: Papal Letters, x, 1447-1455, ed J A Twemlow (London, 1915), 260.
7. Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers Relating to Great Britain and Ireland: Papal Letters, xiii, 1471-1484, ed J A Twemlow (London, 1955), 644-5 [hereafter CPL, xiii].
9. Rentale Sancti Andree, ed R K Hannay (Scottish History Society, 1913), 55.
Summary of relevant documentation
Medieval
Synopsis of Cowan’s Parishes: Annexed to college of Dunglass in 1451 by grant of William, earl of Douglas. Both parsonage and vicarage were annexed to the provost of the church by 1476, with the cure served by a vicar pensioner.(1)
1394-1415 William Brown (described in 1408 as the tutor of the earl of Angus) holds the church. In 1408 he complains that he has been ‘unable to possess fully or even hope to do because of wars for the last ten years.(2)
1415 William resigns, John de Edinburgh is presented by Archibald, earl of Douglas, described as patron of the church.(3)
1454 Andrew Matheson (member of the Pope’s household) collated to the church on successive deaths of William Gibson and Robert Kirkwood.(4)
1476 Confirmation the endowment of the college of Dunglass by Alexander Hume with the churches of Hutton and Edrom and tithes of Wester Upsettlington and Trefontains.(5)
1476 Union of the parishes of Hutton and Wester Upsettlington. ‘The parish church which was formerly, as is presumed, in the place or village of Wester Upsettlington (although now utterly destroyed), has been so long void, on account of former wars the inhabitants are obliged to go to neighbouring churches... and know not to whom they might pay their tithes’. Petition by John Edmondson, provost of Dunglass for the union of the parishes of Hutton and Wester Upsettlington, the cure to be served by a perpetual vicar in Hutton.(6)
1500 Deal done in the church of Hutton between William Maxwell and Walter Scot of Buccleuch regarding cattle stolen from Maxwell by a third party.(7)
1533 (26 Apr) Thomas Melville, rector of Hutton, commissioner general of St Andrews within the archdeaconry of Lothian, adjudicates a divorce case between Kathrina Doby and George Lowry.(8)
1538 (20 Sept) Thomas Melville, rector of Hutton, records rights to some hereditary lands in East Melville.(9)
Post-medieval
Books of assumption of thirds of benefices and Accounts of the collectors of thirds of benefices: The Parish church parsonage held by James Bikerston, set for £20.(10)
[Parishes of Hutton and Fishwick united in 1614, parish church moved to Hutton]
1667 (8 Sept) £13 3s given to John Hutchison to ‘house the timber for the church’.(11)
1671 (18 Jun) £4 3s 8d paid to John Slaterstone for work on the kirk (unspecified).(12)
1695 (3 Sept) Visitation of the church by the Presbytery of Duns includes a report by James Brown, mason and James Greenlaw and John Watt, wrights, that it was necessary for repairing the church, the total cost for materials and workmanship was £913 18s.(13)
1701 (6 May) Visitation of Hutton by the Presbytery of Chirnside notes that the records of the session have been lost some time ago. They have no church utensils and the library is short of books (the minister had lost some on his return from America).(14)
1731 (15 Apr) Visitation of the church by the presbytery to report on repairs needed for church and manse. They note that the kirk and office houses are to be repaired as they stand (repairs to the church and bell house cost £30 out of a total of £513 14s).(15)
#1765 [nothing in the presbytery or session records anent the building work in that year]
1766 (15 Feb) Note in the kirk session that the bell man has incurred more than normal costs ‘since the building of the kirk a new’ as there are more doors and windows.(16) [seems to suggest either major rebuilding or a new church, not clear].
Statistical Account of Scotland (Rev Adam Landels, 1791): ‘The parish church was rebuilt in 1765, and has been lately ceiled, plastered and flagged’.(17)
New Statistical Account of Scotland (Rev John Edgar, 1834): ‘The church was built in 1765 [note difference from Statistical Account]. Originally it must have been a mean structure, and, from the effects of time, it is now almost in a state of ruin’.(18)
[Addendum to the account (p.165) notes that a new church was now under construction, no reference to whether this was on the same site]
Architecture of Scottish Post-Reformation Churches: (George Hay):1835; 1661 Burgerhuys bell.(19)
Notes
1. Cowan, The parishes of medieval Scotland, 84.
7. Prot Bk of James Young, 1485-1515, no. 1097.
8. Liber Officialis Sancti Andree, no.73. Further cases the following year, no.79 & 80.
9. NRS Prot Bk of Edward Dickson, 1537-45, NP1/5B, fol. 54.
10. Kirk, The books of assumption of the thirds of benefices, 266.
11. NRS Fishwick & Hutton Kirk Session, 1649-1677, CH2/466/1, fol. 148.
12. NRS Fishwick & Hutton Kirk Session, 1649-1677, CH2/466/1, fol. 163.
13. NRS Presbytery of Duns, Minutes, 1690-1698, CH2/113/2, fol. 77.
14. NRS Presbytery of Chirnside, Minutes, 1690-1702, CH2/516/1, fol. 231.
15. NRS Presbytery of Chirnside, Minutes, 1721-1732, CH2/516/3, fols. 269-272.
16. NRS Fishwick & Hutton Kirk Session, 1730-1792, CH2/466/2, fol. 136.
17. Statistical Account of Scotland, (1791), iv, 195.
18. New Statistical Account of Scotland, (1834), ii, 162.
19. Hay, The Architecture of Scottish Post-Reformation Churches, p. 252.
Bibliography
NRS Fishwick & Hutton Kirk Session, 1649-1677, CH2/466/1.
NRS Fishwick & Hutton Kirk Session, 1730-1792, CH2/466/2.
NRS Presbytery of Chirnside, Minutes, 1690-1702, CH2/516/1.
NRS Presbytery of Chirnside, Minutes, 1721-1732, CH2/516/3.
NRS Presbytery of Duns, Minutes, 1690-1698, CH2/113/2.
NRS Prot Bk of Edward Dickson, 1537-45, NP1/5B.
Calendar of entries in the Papal registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland; Papal letters, 1893-, ed. W.H. Bliss, London.
Calendar of Papal letters to Scotland of Benedict XIII of Avignon, 1976, ed. F. McGurk, (Scottish History Society) Edinburgh.
Cowan, I.B., 1967, The parishes of medieval Scotland, (Scottish Record Society), Edinburgh.
Donaldson, G., 1949, Accounts of the collectors of thirds of benefices, (Scottish History Society), Edinburgh.
Hay, G., 1957, The Architecture of Scottish Post-Reformation Churches, 1560-1843, Oxford.
Kirk, J., 1995, The books of assumption of the thirds of benefices, (British Academy) Oxford.
Liber Officialis Sancti Andree, 1845, (Abbotsford Club), Edinburgh.
New Statistical Account of Scotland, 1834-45, Edinburgh and London.
Protocol Book of James Young, 1485-1515, 1952, ed. G. Donaldson (Scottish Record Society), Edinburgh.
Statistical Account of Scotland, 1791-9, ed. J. Sinclair, Edinburgh.
Architectural description
Hutton church was dedicated by Bishop David de Bernham on 6 April 1243.(1) On 26 April 1451 it was annexed to Dunglass Collegiate Church by William , earl of Douglas, and it appears that by 1476 both the parsonage and vicarage had been annexed to that college’s provostship, with the spiritual needs of the parishioners met by a pensionary vicar.(2) In that year the provost petitioned for Hutton to be united with Wester Upsettlington, because that church had been destroyed in the wars with England.(3) After the Reformation Fishwick was also united with Hutton, in 1614, and the former passed out of use.(4)
There is the usual tally of ongoing repairs to the church at Hutton. On 3 September 1695, for example, the mason James Brown and the wrights James Greenlaw and John Watt costed necessary works at the considerable sum of £913.18s.(5) The church was completely rebuilt in 1765, and in 1791 the minister said that it had ‘lately been ceiled, plastered, and flagged, and is now a very handsome country place of worship’.(6)
But his successor in 1834 did not agree with him, complaining that:
...it must have been a mean structure, and from the effects of time, it is now almost in a state of ruin. It is so damp that persons of delicate health are prevented from attending it...As there is now, however, the prospect of a new church being built...there is little doubt that the heritors will erect a structure of some taste and beauty, - qualities much wanted in parish churches of this county, - most of them, with the exception of Ladykirk, being very poor and shabby erections.(7)
He was able to say in an addendum to his account that his new church was under construction.(8)
That church was built in 1834-5 to the designs of Ignatius Bonomi,(9) with Hume and Melrose as masons and J. and T. Scott as carpenters. It is an impressive early essay in Romanesque revival inspired by Norham Church, where Bonomi also worked, though a slightly awkward sense of relative scale between the constituent parts suggests the architect had difficulties in adapting these forms to the needs of a large-scale church of preaching hall type.
It is a rectangle of two by six bays with a three-storeyed tower porch at the north-east corner. A porch, heating chamber and vestry were added at the west end in 1879. The show façades on the south and east sides are faced with stugged buff ashlar, and designed in a slightly larger than life Romanesque idiom. They are divided into bays by pilasters rising through a chamfered base course, with nook shafts and moulded arches to the windows; at the wall-head there is a corbel table below a parapet. The other, and less visible façades are more simply treated. The tower, which is a little under-sized for such a large building has two storeys of two-light windows within containing arches.
The original internal arrangement of furnishings appears to have involved galleries facing towards a pulpit against one of the side walls. New flooring and seating were provided in 1936, and the roof was replaced in 1961; a visually unfortunate false ceiling was inserted in 1971.(10)
It is not clear if the church of 1834-5 is on the site of its medieval and eighteenth-century predecessors, though it is likely that it is. It has been suggested that a seventeenth-century burial vault to the west of the church, that is thought to have been built for the owners of Hutton Castle, might have been either on the site of an earlier church or attached to it. But from what can be seen of the vault, it does not appear to have been attached to another building.
Notes
1. Alan Orr Anderson, Early Sources of Scottish History, Edinburgh, 1922, vol. 2, p. 523,
2. Ian B. Cowan, The Parishes of Medieval Scotland, (Scottish Record Society) 1967, p. 84.
3. Calendar of entries in the Papal Registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland, Papal Letters, ed. W.H. Bliss et al., London, 1893-, vol. 13, p. 645.
4. James Robson, The Churches and Churchyards of Berwickshire, Kelso, 1896, p. 131.
5. National Records of Scotland, Presbytery of Duns, Minutes, 1690-98, CH2/113/2, fol. 77.
6. Statistical Account of Scotland, 1791-99, vol. 4, p. 199.
7. New Statistical Account of Scotland, 1834-45, vol. 2, p. 162.
8. New Statistical Account, vol. 2, p. 165.
9. Howard Colvin, Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 4th ed., New Haven and London, 2008, p. 140; National Records of Scotland, Heritors’ Records, 146/2, 189-99.
10. G.A.C. Binnie, The Churches and Churchyards of Berwickshire, Ladykirk, 1995, pp. 286-87.
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