Fig. 307.
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