Description

The monument consists of a ruinous and roofless post-Reformation Parish Church. It is dated 1643 by a carved stone in the west gable.

The structure is an oblong building built of coursed rubble with later buttresses along the N and S facing walls to secure the original walls. The building has round-headed windows and doorways. The fireplace in, and the stairway to, the Laird's Loft can still be clearly seen. The church served the parish of West Calder from 1646 to 1880 whereafter it was replaced by a new church and fell into disrepair.

The area to be scheduled includes the remains of the upstanding church in its entirety together with an area of ground within, under and outwith these visible remains, bounded by a line with a variable distance not less than 3m out from the upstanding walls. The burial ground, apart from that which is included in the above area of ground around the remains, is excluded from the scheduling.

Any lairs for which burial rights exist at the date of scheduling are also excluded. The area to be scheduled is subrectangular in shape with maximum dimensions of 14m N-S by 30m E-W as marked in red on the accompanying map extract.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance because of its potential to contribute to our understanding of post-Reformation ecclesiastical architecture. It is a particularly fine example of its type including as it does many features which illustrate the practices of post-Reformation worship.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NT 06 SW 1.

Bibliography:

Scottish Development Department (1960-) 1, No. 1

Learmonth, W. (1885) 'History of West Calder'

Source: Historic Environment Scotland