Yester Parish Church is a 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....

 in the village of Gifford

Gifford, East Lothian

Gifford is a village in the parish of Yester in East Lothian, Scotland. It lies approximately 4 miles south of Haddington and 25 miles east of Edinburgh.-History:...

, East Lothian

East Lothian

East Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh....

, 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...

. The village forms part of Yester Parish, and is a linked charge which combines the parishes of Bolton

Bolton, East Lothian

Bolton is a hamlet and the third smallest parish in East Lothian, Scotland. It lies approximately south of Haddington and east of Edinburgh, and is an entirely agricultural parish, long by about wide...

 & Saltoun

East Saltoun and West Saltoun

East Saltoun and West Saltoun are separate villages in East Lothian, Scotland, about 5 miles south-west of Haddington and 20 miles east of Edinburgh.- Geography :...

, and Humbie

Humbie

Humbie is a hamlet and rural parish in East Lothian, Scotland. It lies in the south-west of the county, approximately 10 miles south-west of Haddington and 15 miles south-east of Edinburgh. Humbie as we know it today was formed as the result of the union between Keith Marischal and Keith Hundeby in...

.

History and design

Several church buildings have been used throughout the history of the parish. The earliest recorded presence of a church in the area is in 1241, the ruins of which lie in the woods beside Yester House

Yester House

Yester House is an early 18th-century mansion near Gifford in East Lothian, Scotland. It was the home of the Hay family, later Marquesses of Tweeddale, from the 15th century until the 1970s. Construction of the present house began in 1699, and continued well into the 18th century in a series of...

, to the south-west of the village centre. A church also once stood at Duncanlaw, a former settlement to the south-east of the main village.

The present building dates to 1708, and stands in the centre of the village.

John Witherspoon

Rev John Witherspoon

John Witherspoon

John Witherspoon was a signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of New Jersey. As president of the College of New Jersey , he trained many leaders of the early nation and was the only active clergyman and the only college president to sign the Declaration...

 was born in Gifford in 1723, and went on to be a major leader of the Presbyterian Church in America. He was the only clergyman to sign the United States Declaration of Independence

United States Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. John Adams put forth a...

.

See also

• Gifford
  Gifford, East Lothian
  Gifford is a village in the parish of Yester in East Lothian, Scotland. It lies approximately 4 miles south of Haddington and 25 miles east of Edinburgh.-History:...
  
  
• Humbie Parish Church
  Humbie Parish Church
  Humbie Parish Church is a church in the small village of Humbie, East Lothian, Scotland. It is part of the Church of Scotland, and is a linked charge which joins the parishes of Bolton & Saltoun, Yester and Humbie....
  
  
• List of Church of Scotland parishes
• List of places in East Lothian