Fig. 1361.—Chapel at the Kirkton of Kilmahew. Plan.
bolls one firlot of tiend bear, and also a house and a piece of land layand thereto beside the chapel of Kilmahew, extending to about an acre or therby, together with ane piece of land for pasture, which was of old possest by the priest of Kilmahew, by order of the said Robert Napier of Kilmahew his predecessors in time of superstition and popery; and in case the annual value of these provisions should fall short of eighty merks to make it up to that sum; third, to entertain the school master present and to come, in meat, drink, and bedding, in household with himself within the house of Kilmahew, so long as he shall discharge the duty of family exercise and prayer within the said family.”[170]
The acre of ground above referred to is now in the possession of the School Board, together with two acres excambed in 1795 for the priest’s right of pasturing a cow on Kirkton farm.
The building is now unoccupied, but it is kept in good repair. It consists (Fig. [1361]) of an eastern portion or choir, which is roofed, and of a western portion or nave, which is roofless. The former is ancient, but the latter appears to be comparatively modern. The choir is, internally, 13 feet 6 inches in length from west to east, by 16 feet 3 inches in width from north to south, and the walls are 3 feet in thickness. In the west wall there is a rounded and chamfered arch 9 feet 2 inches in width, now built up. The choir has two windows, one in the north
Fig. 1362.—Chapel at the Kirkton of Kilmahew. View from South-East.
wall and one in the south wall (Fig. [1362]), each of which is square-headed, and the outer jambs and lintel have a double splay. The doorway, which is in the south wall, has also a square lintel and a bold bead and hollow round the opening. In the interior of the north wall there is an arched recess 8 feet in length by 2 feet in depth, which may have contained a monument, or may have been an Easter sepulchre. The east wall has two recesses, one of which may have contained a piscina, while the other (Fig. [1363]) is an ambry of an ornamental character, but evidently of very late date. There is also a window in this wall placed at a very high level, and out of the centre (see Fig. [1362]). The gables are finished with crowsteps, and on the south skew putts there are shields
