Ladykirk Churchyard

Church History.

Standing above the River Tweed, which borders Scotland and England, Ladykirk was built about 1500.Of late Gothic style it is entirely built of stone, even the roof, which is covered in large slabs. This was probably a precaution against burning in one of the cross-border raids that persisted for many years after its construction. The top of the tower was added in 1743, possibly to a design by William Adam, father of the well-known Georgian architects, the Adam brothers. The ends of the choir and the transepts which project from the sides of the building are half-octagons, a feature of late Gothic churches in Scotland, of which this is one of the best survivors.

In 1496, King James IV of Scots was returning from a successful campaign in Northumberland when he was thrown from his horse during his fording of the River Tweed. After being pulled to the shore, he vowed to build a church as thanksgiving to Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin. He ordered the church to be built entirely of stone, including the roof and the interior seating, no doubt having the marauding English, who had a habit of burning Scottish kirks, in mind. The last time the king saw Our Lady’s Kirk was on his way to defeat and death on the fields of Flodden in 1513. The church has been added to over the centuries but still retains much of the original fabric making it the most complete pre-Reformation kirk in Scotland. The tower was heightened in 1743 and the clock added in 1882,a gift from Lady Marjoribanks. The stone used on the building came from Swinton Quarry.

The Sections are split section A is East of the Church
Section B is South of the Church
Section C is West of the Church
And D is North of the Church

There are many stones in the Churchyard that are unreadable so we have not inserted them into the site. Some are in but very few.