Fig. 1348.
Bassendean Church.
Window Jamb.
advanced date. The grooves for the glass are in the centre of the wall. There is no window in either of the east, north, or west walls. Fragments of the font are lying amongst the rubbish in the inside.
The old church of Bassendean is still used as a burial-place by the Homes of Bassendean.
The church belonged to the priory of Coldstream, and appears to have been abandoned at the Reformation. It was again used for divine service from 1647 to 1649, when a new church was erected at Westruther, and St. Mary’s was allowed to fall into ruin.
COCKBURNSPATH CHURCH, Berwickshire.
The village of Cockburnspath is situated about seven miles south-east of Dunbar. The church here is peculiar and unique, in having a round tower in the centre of the west wall. It is a long narrow building (Fig. 1349), measuring about 80 feet in length by 18 feet 3 inches in width. The structure has been much knocked about, having undergone at least two restorations at different times, the last being about twenty years ago. It is therefore not surprising to find that there is nothing left inside the building of any architectural interest. Four angle buttresses at the corners, however, remain intact, together with portions of an early base course near the east end, and the head of a window, containing geometrical tracery (Fig. [1350]), has been preserved and built into the south wall over the door near the east end. Judging from these details and from the thickness of the walls (3 feet 2 inches) it seems probable that the church is not later than the sixteenth century.
The tower (Fig. [1351]) is about 9 feet in external diameter, and its interior diameter is about 6 feet. It is about 30 feet high, and contains