KIRKMAIDEN CHURCH, Wigtonshire.
The parish of Kirkmaiden has long been incorporated with that of Glasserton. Formerly Kirkmaiden formed the port of Whithorn, and its roofless church still stands close to the burial-ground near the sea-shore.
It consists ([Fig. 348]) of a nave, 37 feet 6 inches long by 18 feet wide internally, and the walls are 4 feet in thickness. They are little reduced from their original height, and the west gable is also little diminished.
Fig. 348.—Kirkmaiden Church. Plan.
There are only three openings in the walls—viz., a doorway and two windows, all in the south wall. These were, till recently, greatly destroyed, but they have been restored by Mr. Galloway,[188] who has no doubt, judging from what remained, that they were all originally round-headed, and has rebuilt them accordingly.
So far as these indications go, this would appear to have been a Norman church. There is an apparent chancel at the east end, but its dimensions and origin are not distinct. It is now appropriated as the “Monreith Vault” (the mansion of that name being in the vicinity), and contains a good deal of modern work.
One peculiarity of the east chamber is, that the north wall is in line with the north wall of the nave, while the south wall is set back four feet from the line of the south wall of the nave.
There is an arch between the nave and chancel, but it has not the appearance of a genuine chancel arch, being rudely formed with thin slatey stones. A wing, 14 feet long by 12 feet wide, is jutted out at the back or north side of the chancel. The walls are little over 2 feet in thickness. There is a square-headed doorway in the south-west angle, and an ambry or recess in the north wall. A roughly-built archway, similar to that into the nave, but smaller, opened from the nave into the north aisle, but is now built up.
The nave seems to be of Norman date. The choir has evidently been altered at a late period, and the north wing or aisle may have been built in post-Reformation times as a burial vault.
The ground to the north rises rapidly, and was filled in to the height of the walls, till cleared out by Mr. Galloway.
There would appear to have been some kind of extension to the west, but only the lower parts of walls and buttresses now remain. This portion was also filled with earth, and on being cleared out, remains of ten skeletons were discovered. This west wall is at the extremity of a long retaining wall, which encloses the present burying-ground, and runs along close above the shore.
The place is very curious and romantic, lying near the sea at the foot of high cliffs, and densely wooded all round.