ABERCORN, Linlithgowshire.
The ancient church of Æbbercurnig, or Abercorn, lies in a sheltered spot amidst the fine woods surrounding the grounds of Hopetoun House, about three miles west from Queensferry.
Fig. 308.—Abercorn Church. South Doorway.
It is believed that when the Northumbrian kingdom was extended to the Forth in the seventh century, a church was founded here in 675, under St. Wilfrid, as a central point from which to superintend the northern part of his diocese. Under Trumuini, this church became the see of the earliest bishopric in Scotland, during the years from 681 to 685. But the victory of the Picts over the Northumbrians at Dunichen caused the latter to retire from Lothian, and drove the monks back to Whitby. The site, however, continued to be occupied by a church, and part of the existing structure belongs to the Norman period. It has been very greatly altered in modern times—so much so, that a round-headed doorway ([Fig. 308]) in the south wall is now almost the only portion remaining which can be
Fig. 309.—Abercorn Church. From South-East.
identified as of Norman date. This Norman doorway has the usual nook shafts, with cushion caps, and the lintel within the round arch is square. The tympanum is filled with stones, arranged in zig-zag patterns, and is one of the few examples in Scotland of a tympanum filled with a shield containing ornament of any kind.
Several burial-places have been added on the south side of the church since Reformation times. ([Fig. 309.]) These can generally be identified by the coats of arms they bear.
To the north-east of the church there has been erected, probably in the eighteenth century, a house of two stories as a place for the lord of the manor, from which he obtained access to his private gallery, erected about that time at the east end of the choir, which it still disfigures.
In the churchyard there are many interesting tombstones, and amongst them are two stone monuments of rather unusual form. ([Fig. 310.])
Fig. 310.—Abercorn Church. Monuments.
These consist of solid stones, doubtless intended to be laid over graves, triangular in section, with the ridge rising to the centre. One has the sides carved with figures of fish-scale pattern, arranged in rows; the other has the scales of a squarer shape. The ends are broken. They are good specimens of the hog-backed form of tombstones.