Alternative Names Kirk Of Calder; Midcalder; Parish Church Of St John; St John's Church; Sandilands Burial Vault
Site type BURIAL GROUND, CHURCH, CROSS
Canmore ID 49058
Site Number NT06NE 3
NGR NT 07372 67323
Council WEST LOTHIAN
Parish MID CALDER
Former Region LOTHIAN
Former District WEST LOTHIAN
Former County MIDLOTHIAN

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Recording Your Heritage Online

St John's Parish Church, Main Street, from 1541
Stunning evidence of the 16th-century ambitions of the Sandilands. Commissioned, designed and paid for by Magister Peter Sandilands who, as the younger son of the sixth Knight of Calder, went into the church to become rector of Mid Calder. The long seven-bay church, three in the choir and four in the nave (with a lower roof and rectangular windows) with cloister opening from the choir, had progressed beyond the vestry and foundations of the choir on Sandilands¿ death. He left minute instructions to his nephew, Sir James Sandilands of Calder, future Lord Torphichen, as to what was to be built. The nave was never begun. In 1863, Brown & Wardrop added the transepts and belfry (replacing the site of the village school). Pleasant 1595 wooden bench pew with the initials JS and IL inscribed The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want; with a tympanum of thistles. Stained glass, 1895, by Hardman in an 1883 memorial window to James Paraffin Young. Outstandingly rich carved finials rising from the sacristy. Conservation work by Stewart Tod & Partners (taking care to protect the bat colonies)


Taken from "West Lothian: An Illustrated Architectural Guide", by Stuart Eydmann, Richard Jaques and Charles McKean, 2008. Published by the Rutland Press http://www.rias.org.uk

Archaeological Notes

NT06NE 3 07372 67323.

(NT 07372 67323). Midcalder parish church, dedicated to St John, was built between c.1530-1550, on the site of an earlier church. The transepts, which stand on the site of an old schoolhouse, were added in 1876.
The oldest gravestone in the churchyard is dated 1636.
A sandstone block, the head of a cross-shaft, found in the churchyard, measuring 15" x 12 1/2" x 4", was donated to the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMAS) in 1883 (Accession no No: IB 129). It is ornamented on each face with a cross design within a circle, all in relief.
RCAHMS 1929, visited 1915; NMAS 1892; SDD List 1963

The church is as described and in normal use. No further information.
Visited by OS (DWR) 28 March 1974.

Notes and Activities

Blanc, H J (1891a) 'Midcalder Church', Trans Edinburgh Architect Ass, vol.1
Page(s): 8-12

Building News (1889) Mid Calder parish church, The Building News 26 April 1889
Held at RCAHMS D.7.33.MID.P

Fawcett, R (2002) Scottish medieval churches: architecture and furnishings, Stroud
Page(s): 13, 20, 125, 277, 341, 367 Held at RCAHMS F.5.31.FAW