Abbey St Bathans

Abbey St. Bathans is a community in Barwickshire in the eastren pairt o The Mairches.

Awtho its name suggests a lairger foondation, Abbey St. Bathans wis oreeginally a priory o Cistercian Nuns. It wis sanctifeed an then uised as a retreat bi the sisters who formed the community at Hadentoun an at Nunraw, unner the patronage o Ada, Coontess o Dunbar an her husband Patrick I, Earl o Dunbar.

Tho the oreeginal location o the monastic accommodation is unkent the day, thare is a stane on ane side o the glen kent as the Abbey Stane. While thare are nae releegious hooses in the veelage the day, thare is a sma kirk in the square. A Meenister is shared wi nearbi hamlet o Longformacus. The dedication is tae St. Bathan—Baithéne mac Brénaind—the seicont abbot o Iona.

In the mid-1960s a deposit or "midden" wis foond bi the existin kirk, on the river bank whaur sic a "tip" wad logically be locatit. This contained mony shards o pottery which wur identifeed as mediaeval bi the Naitional Museum o Scotland, Edinburgh. This suggests that the monastery wis locatit in the riverside meadae aurie aroond the existin kirk, an a dig wad probably reveal some o the structur. This deposit wis discovered an excavatit bi Mrs. E. K. Robb, whose family uised tae holiday in the ferm.

The majority o the surroondin land is awned bi various members o the Dobie family—the auldest brither bein the Laird o the demesne.

Some o the woodland haes been uised bi the Forestry Commission at various times, but nou this is no the case.

The veelage
The veelage proper is based aroond 'The Square', whaur the kirk, a telephone an some hooses are locatit.  Abbey St. Bathans is situatit beside the Whiteadder Water. The Southern Upland Way an the Sir Walter Scott Way pass throu the veelage.  The SYHA uised tae hae a youth hostel in the veelage tae support walkers, housomeivver it haes been closed a for nummer o years.

Anither local attraction is The Riverside, a sma restaurant further doun river. It is locatit next tae a fish ferm.

Nearbi are the remains o the historic, Edin's Hall Broch —an Iron Age defensive structur.

Abbey St Bathans Hoose
The hoose began, probably in the early 19t century (a datestane o 1694 is o unkent provenance) as a thatched cottage ornée, set at the base o a knoll wi the grund fawin away steeply tae the north tae the Whiteadder Water.  It wis biggit for the Turnbull family.  This earlier core is identifiable at the centre o the entrance front as a twa-bay section wi first-floor dormers risin throu the eaves, an wi a salient gabled section at its northren end terminatin the north-wast range.

Later extensions, especially in the 1870s, retain something o the oreeginal character, if no the scale, in the plethora o traceried bargeboards, dormers, an barley-succar chimneystacks.  The detailin o the north-wast front is mair owertly Baronial, haein a central touer-lik pavilion wi chamfered corners at the upper levels, a taw pyramidal ruif, an a quadrant bartizan at the north-east angle.  Thare are attractive interiors, pairticularly the stair wi twistit balusters an timmer arcadin.  Mony fittins wur muivit here in the 1880s bi Dorothea Veitch frae Bassendean Hoose.

On the estate are a picturesque lodge, stables an gruim’s cottage, an an airtfully componed Z-plan complex includin gamekeeper’s cottage an kennels.

In 2006 the hoose wis in multiple occupation.

See an aw
Leet o places in the Mairches
Leet o places in Scotland

References
Cruft, Dunbar & Fawcett, The buildings of Scotland: Borders, 2006, p. 90

Category:Veelages in the Mairches
Category:Barwickshire