A Corpus of Scottish Medieval
Parish Churches

Historical outline

Dedication: St Katherine

The church of Kinneil was granted and confirmed to the abbey of Holyrood between 1153 and 5 January 1161 by Herbert, chamberlain of King Malcolm IV, with the consent of Herbert’s sons Stephen and William.  The grant of the church, dedicated to St Katherine,(1) with all its associated rights, including teinds, lands and other easements, reserved the tenure of the church by Herbert’s nephew, William, for so long as he wished to possess it.(2)  King Malcolm confirmed the grant between 6 January 1161 and 13 September 1162, and his brother King William confirmed it as a gift of Malcolm IV between 1165 and 1171.(3)  The previous year, Pope Alexander III had confirmed Holyrood’s possession of the church, along with a carucate of land, teinds of the mill and a saltpan.(4)  Bishop Richard of St Andrews added his confirmation in 1165x1166 in one specific and one general charter affirming the abbey’s rights in Kinneil and its associated properties.(5)  Bishop David de Bernham confirmed the canons’ possession of the church in 1240 and then in 1251 confirmed its appropriation and instituted a vicarage settlement, with the parsonage resting with the abbey and a perpetual vicarage pensionary with a stipend of ten merks annually established.(6)  A further confirmation was received from Bishop Gamelin in 1268.(7)

It has been suggested that the ‘church of Kynelf’ recorded in 1275 in the accounts of the papal tax-collector in Scotland refers to Kinneil.(8)  This identification is doubtful because of the reference to ‘Kynelf’ as a church, which usually denotes an independent parsonage, and also the level of taxation assessed, 40s in the first year and 38s 6d for the second term, which is far in excess of the tenth of the vicar’s ten-merk pension.

The vicarage pensionary was effectively annexed to Holyrood by Bishop William Lamberton in 1327, when he gave the canons the right to present one of their number to the church each time it fell vacant.(9)  The union remained in force at the Reformation, when the parsonage was valued at £106 13s 4d and the vicarage, held by John Johnston, was valued at 45 merks.(10)

Notes

1. J M Mackinlay, Ancient Church Dedications in Scotland: Non-Scriptural Dedications (Edinburgh, 1914), 423.

2. Liber Cartarum Sancte Crucis (Bannatyne Club, 1840), no.14 [hereafter Holyrood Liber].

3. Regesta Regum Scottorum, i, The Acts of Malcolm IV, ed G W S Barrow (Edinburgh, 1960), no.196; Regesta Regum Scottorum, ii, The Acts of William I, ed G W S Barrow (Edinburgh, 1971), no.39.

4. Scotia Pontificia: Papal Letters to Scotland Before the Pontificate of Innocent III, ed R Somerville (Oxford, 1982), no.53.

5. Holyrood Liber, nos 13, 16.

6. Holyrood Liber, nos 75, 76.

7. Holyrood Liber, no.77.

8. A I Dunlop (ed), ‘Bagimond’s Roll: Statement of the Tenths of the Kingdom of Scotland’, Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, vi (1939), 62.

9. Holyrood Liber, no.88.

10. J Kirk (ed), The Books of Assumption of the Thirds of Benefices (Oxford, 1995), 91, 154.

Summary of relevant documentation

Medieval

Synopsis of Cowan’s Parishes: Granted to Holyrood by Herbert, king’s chamberlain in 1161x62. Vicarage settlement was confirmed in 1251, but in 1327 this vicarage was also granted to the abbey with the cure served by a canon.(1)

According to Mackinley the church was dedicated to St Katherine.(2)

1153x62 Church given to the abbey by Herbert, the chamberlain of Malcolm IV, with tiends, lands easements and common pasture. Charter includes a life rent for Herbert’s nephew William.(3)

1161x62 Gift of the church by Herbert confirmed by Malcolm IV same terms as above.(4)

1164 Church with one ploughgate of land, the teinds of the mill and a saltpan confirmed Pope Alexander III.(5)

1165x71 Confirmed to the abbey by William I as a gift by Malcolm IV.(6)

1165x66 Church (not chapel) included in two charters by Richard, bishop of St Andrews, the first of all the churches given to the abbey by David I, Malcolm IV and bishops Aernald and Robert of St Andrews and the second specifically confirming possession of Kinneil but with no reference to the life rent.(7)

1251 Vicarage settlement by David de Bernham, bishop of St Andrews; parsonage with abbey, perpetual vicarage valued at 10 marks.(8)

1268 Church included in confirmation of the possessions of the abbey in the diocese of St Andrews by Gamelin, bishop of St Andrews.(9)

1327 William Lamberton annexes vicarage to abbey, cure to be served by a canon.(10)

1344 Petition by David II on behalf of David de Cunerys (illegitimate and papal chaplain), collation confirmed in 1346.(11)

1456 Church included in confirmation of the possessions of abbey by Pope Calixtus III.(12)

1470 James III petitions for a confirmation that no secular or regulars of any order should be allowed to obtain the parishes churches of Falkirk, Tranent, St Cuthbert’s, Kinghorn Easter, Kinneil and others which are wont to be held by the canons of Holyrood.(13)

1476 Tithes from lands in the parish of Kinneil belonging to James, Lord of Hamilton, given to hospital of St Catherine (founded by James).(14)

1539 Instrument of investiture of John Wilson (canon of Holyrood), collated to the vicarage, presented by archbishop of St Andrews, handed the ‘cup, bowl and other furniture of the altar’.(15)

1552 Presentation and institution of Alexander Forester to the vicarage of the parish church, presented by the archbishop of St Andrews; investiture done by John Wright, curate of  Kinneil, by handing the vicar the keys, books, chalice and other ornaments of the church.(16)

Post-medieval

Books of assumption of thirds of benefices and Accounts of the collectors of thirds of benefices: The Parish church parsonage with Holyrood, set for £106 13s 4d. Vicarage held by John Johnston, value 45 marks.(17)

Account of Collectors of Thirds of Benefices (G. Donaldson): Third of vicarage £10.(18)

1616 (4 Sept) Brief reference of a visitation of the churches of Kinneil and Carriden by the Presbytery of Linlithgow finds the churches to be poorly provided (£6 stipends); the bishop of St Andrews is the patron of both.(19)

1620 (19 July) Visitation of the church by the Presbytery of Linlithgow found the minister to be competent, however he complains that he gets no help from the heritors (naming John Hamilton).(20)

1669 (30 Mar) Visitation of the church by the Presbytery of Linlithgow; supplication by the parishioners for the union of Kinneil and the church of Bo’ness, by reason of the paucity of common and smallness of the sstipend both at both churches. Next day visitation of Bo’ness notes that Kinneil has 559 communicants and the furthest part of the parish Kinneil are 3 long miles from the church of Ness [Bo’ness]. The parish of Bo’ness has 900-100 communicants.(21) [the parish and church was suppressed]

Statistical Account of Scotland (Rev Robert Rennie, 1791): [Parish united with Bo’ness 1640s parish church moved to the latter]

‘A little west from Kinniel house, the stones of the old church and burying ground of  Kinniel are still to be seen’.(22)

New Statistical Account of Scotland (Rev Kenneth Mackenzie): [Nothing to add to above account]

1951 The church was excavated by R. L. Hunter and his daughter. At that time the only part visible was the western gable with its double belfry. The foundations of other walls were below the turf. (see article in the Glasgow Archaeological society from 1966).(23)

Notes

1. Cowan, The parishes of medieval Scotland, 114.

2. Mackinley, Non-Scriptural Dedications, p. 423.

3. Holyrood Liber, no. 14.

4. RRS, i, no. 196.

5. Scotia Pontificia, no 53.

6. RRS, ii, no. 39.

7. Holyrood Liber, no. 13.

8. Holyrood Liber, no. 75.

9. Holyrood Liber, no. 77.

10. Holyrood Liber, no. 88.

11. CPL, iii, 205, CPP, 37.

12. Holyrood Liber, App i, no 1.

13. CSSR, v, no1454, CPL, xii, 735.

14. CPL, xiii, 489-90.

15. Prot Bk of Dominus Thomas Johnsoun, no. 203.

16. Prot Bk James Foulis, 1546-1555 and Nicol Thounis, 1559-1564, ii, no. 195.

17. Kirk, The books of assumption of the thirds of benefices, 91 & 154.

18. Donaldson, Accounts of the collectors of thirds of benefices, 26.

19. NRS Presbytery of Linlithgow, Minutes, 1610-1617, CH2/242/1, fol. 154.

20. NRS Presbytery of Linlithgow, Minutes, 1618-1632, CH2/242/2, fol. 35.

21. NRS Presbytery of Linlithgow, Minutes, 1653-1676, CH2/242/5, fols. 415, 416 & 434.

22. Statistical Account of Scotland, (1791), xviii, 437.

23. Hunter, Kirk of Kinneil, pp. 6-7.

Bibliography

NRS Presbytery of Linlithgow, Minutes, 1610-1617, CH2/242/1.

NRS Presbytery of Linlithgow, Minutes, 1618-1632, CH2/242/2.

NRS Presbytery of Linlithgow, Minutes, 1653-1676, CH2/242/5.

Calendar of entries in the Papal registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland; Papal letters, 1893-, ed. W.H. Bliss, London.

Calendar of entries in the Papal registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland; Papal Petitions, 1893-, ed. W.H. Bliss, London.

Calendar of Scottish Supplications to Rome 1447-71, 1997, ed. J. Kirk, R.J. Tanner and A.I. Dunlop, 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.

Hunter, R. L. 1980, Kirk of Kinneil, Kinneil.

Kirk, J., 1995, The books of assumption of the thirds of benefices, (British Academy) Oxford.

Liber Cartarum Sancte Crucis, 1840, ed. C. Innes, (Bannatyne Club), Edinburgh.

Mackinley, J.M, 1914, Ancient Church Dedications in Scotland. Non-Scriptural Dedications, Edinburgh.

Protocol Book of Dominus Thomas Johnsoun, 1528-1578,  1920, eds. J. Beveridge & J. Russell (Scottish Record Society) Edinburgh.

Protocol Book of James Foulis, 1546-1555 and Nicol Thounis, 1559-1564, 1927, eds. J. Beveridge & J. Russell (Scottish Record Society), Edinburgh.

Regesta Regum Scottorum, Acts of Malcolm IV (1153-65), 1960, Edinburgh.

Regesta Regum Scottorum, Acts of William I (1165-1214), 1971, Edinburgh.

Scotia pontificia papal letters to Scotland before the Pontificate of Innocent III, 1982, ed. R. Somerville, Oxford.

Statistical Account of Scotland, 1791-9, ed. J. Sinclair, Edinburgh.

Architectural description

The church of Kinneil was granted to the Augustinian abbey of Holyrood by Herbert, the king’s chaplain, a grant that was confirmed by Malcolm IV in 1161-2. In 1251 a vicarage settlement was confirmed by Bishop David, though in 1327 the vicarage was itself granted to Holyrood, with provision being made for the cure to be served by one of the abbey’s canons.(1)

In 1669 it was decided by the Presbytery of Linlithgow that the parish of Kinneil should be suppressed, with the church for the parishioners instead at Bo’ness,(2) and it was subsequently abandoned. It appears to have been largely demolished after an accidental fire, which is said to have resulted from the activities of dragoons who were guarding Kinneil House in 1745.(3) The west wall was left in place, possibly to provide a marker for shipping using Bo’ness harbour.

The remains of the church are a short distance to the west of Kinneil House. The only upstanding part, the west gable wall, is built of roughly coursed rubble with a high proportion of squared blocks. There is a large number of what appear to be putlog holes, with three rows of four holes below the level of the gable, and smaller numbers above that. The gable is surmounted by a substantial two-arched gabled bellcote; on its west side it oversails the wall face and is supported by corbels of a type that point to a late medieval date for its construction.

The church was partially excavated for the Duke of Hamilton, the owner of the estate, in the late nineteenth century,(4) when it was said that the remains of south and north doorways had been found, the latter with ‘nook-shafts with Norman bases’. It was more thoroughly investigated in 1951.(5) In the course of that work it was found that the church was composed of two rectangular compartments, with a total internal length of 60 feet three inches (18.4 metres), while the chancel had an internal width of 16 feet three inches (4.95 metres), and the nave 20 feet 6 inches (6.25 metres).

A narrow chamfered base course was found beneath lengths of both the chancel and nave walls, and is still to be seen below much of the east wall. The form of this base course points to a twelfth-century date for the construction of the church, a date that is supported by one of the bases of the nook shafts of the south door. That base, which was evidently first found in the 1890s and re-examined in 1951, had been lost by 1967,(6) though a photograph published as fig. 4 in the 1967 report shows that it is almost certainly of the earlier twelfth century, possibly dating to the second quarter of that century.

The only structural addition to the twelfth century church to be found was an aisle on the south side of the chancel, which had an internal east-west width of 12 feet 8 inches (3.85 metres) and a north-south length of 15 feet (4.6 metres). The lower courses of a door with chamfered jambs survive towards the southern end of its south wall. It was assumed at the time of the excavation that the aisle must be a post-medieval laird’s aisle, with a stair to a loft at the upper level on a projection against its south face.

The principal reason for assuming that the aisle was post-medieval was because a medieval cross was found below its walls. However, it must be borne in mind that abandoned medieval work might be used in later medieval structures, as seen, for example, in the re-use of two cross shafts in the east wall of St Andrews Cathedral, which was started during the episcopate of Bishop Arnold (1160-62). It also appears from the excavation report that there may have been grave slabs of medieval date within the aisle. Thus, while the aisle may indeed be of post-medieval date, the possibility should not be ruled out that it started life before the Reformation as a family aisle, and that any south forestair was part of adaptation for reformed use.

The cross that was found below the walls of the aisle was a particularly important find, since it is a unique Scottish example of a large-scale rood. Although badly damaged, it appears that the Christ figure had a loin cloth that extended down to just above the ankles. The upper part of the cross is set against a circlet, and there are block-like terminations to the arms of the cross that were evidently the location for carvings. That at the head is still identifiable as the hand of God extended in blessing, while there may have been the skull of Golgotha at the base, but the others are too damaged to be identifiable.

It appears that the cross was intended to be set against a wall rather than inset into masonry, since crosses are incised at the ends of the arms. An attractive possibility is that it was designed to be set above the chancel arch at Kinneil, though this can be no more than speculation. In its present damaged state it is extremely difficult to hazard a date for its carving. Typological parallels with pre-Conquest stone roods in England, such as those at Romsey or Langford, may not be particularly helpful, and it is perhaps more likely that is of a similar date as the church, and possibly thus of around the second quarter of the twelfth century. It is now displayed in Kinneil House.

Notes

1. Ian B. Cowan, The Parishes of Medieval Scotland (Scottish Record Society), 1967, p. 114.

2. National Records of Scotland, Presbytery of Linlithgow, Minutes, 1653-76, CH2/242/5 fols 415-416 and 434.

3. Thomas James Salmon, Borrowstounness and District, Edinburgh, 1913.

4. David MacGibbon and Thomas Ross, The Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland, Edinburgh, vol. 3, 1897.

5. D.M. Hunter, ‘Kinneil Church’, Transactions of the Glasgow Archaeological Society, new ser. vol, 15 pt 4, 1967, pp. 189-99.

6. Hunter, 1967, p. 192.