Ednam Church - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Ednam Church is a member church of the Church of Scotland

Church of Scotland

The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....

and is co–joined with Kelso North Church in Kelso. Ednam is in the old county of Roxburghshire

Roxburghshire

Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh is a registration county of Scotland. It borders Dumfries to the west, Selkirk to the north-west, and Berwick to the north. To the south-east it borders Cumbria and Northumberland in England.It was named after the Royal Burgh of Roxburgh...

now part of the Scottish Borders Council. Ednam is 3 miles (4.8 km) NNE of Kelso on the B6461 road and is at

History

Thorlongus

Thor Longus or Thor the Long is an early 12th century Anglo-Saxon noble associated with Roxburghshire, a culturally English territory ruled by the Scottish king from the 11th-century onwards...

or Thor Longus ('Thor the Tall') was the first recorded laird of Ednaham, (from the Old English, 'Settlement on the Eden Water') as Ednam was known. This area is the first known parish

Parish

A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

in Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

and was believed to be the start of King Edgar of Scotland

Edgar of Scotland

Edgar or Étgar mac Maíl Choluim , nicknamed Probus, "the Valiant" , was king of Alba from 1097 to 1107...

's attempt at 'devolved management' to local people.

There has been, at least, three churches at Ednam

Ednam

Disambiguation: "Ednam" can also refer to the aristocratic title Viscount EdnamEdnam is a small village near Kelso in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland....

with the first being founded in 1105 in a charter issued by Thor Longus and dedicated St. Cuthbert. Such was the importance of the church, it became known as 'the mother church of Hedenham' The 12th. century church survived until 1523 when it was destroyed by the English in a cross border raid after which, the church was re–built.

Another early religious establishment at Ednam, St. Leonard's hospital and chapel, was founded in the reign of William I of Scotland

William I of Scotland

William the Lion , sometimes styled William I, also known by the nickname Garbh, "the Rough", reigned as King of the Scots from 1165 to 1214...

(1165–1214) when Ada de Warenne

Ada de Warenne

Ada de Warenne was the Anglo-Norman wife of Henry of Scotland, Earl of Northumbria and Earl of Huntingdon. She was the daughter of William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey by Elizabeth of Vermandois, and a great-granddaughter of Henry I of France...

or Northumberland, William's mother, gifted the hospital to the master and congregation. In 1392, the establishment was gifted by Robert III of Scotland

Robert III of Scotland

Robert III was King of Scots from 1390 to his death. His given name was John Stewart, and he was known primarily as the Earl of Carrick before ascending the throne at age 53...

to his sister and her husband, John Edmondstoune as a marriage gift. The Edmonstounes would be proprietors of Ednam for the next 250 years. The holy hospital was damaged beyond repair. by the English in 1542 and again in 1544. The field where the hospital was situated is still known as the Spital field.

The church of 1523 was described, in 1680, as being in a ruinous condition and in need of re–building. The new church, built in a slightly different position, was used until 1820 when yet another church was built. Then, in 1902, that church was substantially renovated and added to. The improvements included a chancel, a porch and a vestry for the minister's use and the work was designed and undertaken by the Edinburgh firm of architects, Hardy and Wight.

A copy of Thor's charter of 1105 to the monks of Durham is contained in the church at Ednam.

Post–Reformation

In 1560, at the onset of the Scottish Reformation, the monks left and the mass was banned but it was 39 years before Ednam had a resident minister. The services on the Sabbath and the administration of sacrements were conducted by men known as 'Readers'. In 1599, Rev. Thomas Porteous was ordained as the first Protestant minister at Ednam then in 1617, John Clapperton was appointed but he appeared to favour a more Episcopalian

Episcopal polity

Episcopal polity is a form of church governance that is hierarchical in structure with the chief authority over a local Christian church resting in a bishop...

approach and supported the bishops. In 1637, Archbishop Laud and Charles I of Scotland, England and Ireland, introduced the Book of Common Prayer
Book of Common Prayer
The Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...

to Scotland

Scotland

which universally denounced by the people of Scotland.
When the National Covenant of Scotland was signed at Greyfriar's Kirk in Edinburgh in February, 1638, Clapperton was ousted from the post and a Presbyterian minister, John Somerville appointed. King Charles, however, intervened and John Clapperton was reinstated. John Somerville returned the post again in 1639 and preached at Ednam Kirk until 1660 when Charles II of Scotland and England re–introduced the hated prayer book. Robert Young was then appointed the 'vicar of Ednam' where he remained until 1668. Young was soon followed as vicar by Adam Peacock but the congregated still demanded a return to the National Covenant. Adam Peacock was in charge until 1683 when William Speed became the new preacher of Edram Church. In 1688, and the enthronement of William of Orange

William III of England

William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...

and his wife, Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange

Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange

Mary, Princess Royal, Princess of Orange and Countess of Nassau was the eldest daughter of King Charles I of England, Scotland, and Ireland and his queen, Henrietta Maria of France...

, William Speed wasted no time in departing the post in the knowledge that the Anglican Common Book of Prayer was soon to be banned in Scotland's kirks.

Further list of ministers

1692 Thomas Thomson

1702 William Baxter

1723 Thomas Pollock

1765 David Dickson

1796 Robert Robertson

1819 Joseph Thomson

1844 William Lamb

1878 John Burleigh

1925 William Scott

1952 John McBride

1970 Donald Gaddes

1994 Tom McDonald

History

Post–Reformation

Further list of ministers

See also