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Maxwellheugh, St Michael's Church

Burial Ground (Medieval), Church (Medieval)

Site Name Maxwellheugh, St Michael's Church

Classification Burial Ground (Medieval), Church (Medieval)

Alternative Name(s) Maxwell Heugh

Canmore ID 58417

Site Number NT73SW 17

NGR NT 7238 3370

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/58417

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Digital Images

Administrative Areas

  • Council Scottish Borders, The
  • Parish Kelso
  • Former Region Borders
  • Former District Roxburgh
  • Former County Roxburghshire

Accessing Scotland's Past Project

St Michael's Church, of which nothing remains visible, served the medieval parish of Maxwell and its principal village, also called Maxwell. The village occupied the area now within Springwood Park. Records suggest that the church was probably founded in the twelfth century and in 1159 its owner Herbert Maccuswell, Sheriff of Roxburgh, donated it to Kelso Abbey. Further details about the church itself are scarce, though it was reported as still in use in a record of the parish of Kelso written in 1649.

Springwood Park, a horse racing track, was built on the site in the 1960s, and it is reported that the burial-ground was completely removed. Recent archaeological investigation within the park could find no trace of the church, though it may have lain outwith the area examined.

A seventeenth-century document shows that by then, the village of Maxwell, and its church, were both in decline. In the space of 23 years, the number of communicants at St Michael's had dropped by nearly 100. By 1838, the village was gone and only the churchyard remained.

Text prepared by RCAHMS as part of the Accessing Scotland's Past project

Archaeology Notes

NT73SW 17 7238 3370.

(NT 7238 3370) St Michael's Church (NR) (Site of) Burial Ground (NR)

OS 6" map, (1938).

Date of erection and demolition unknown, though the cemetery still remains to indicate where it stood.

New Statistical Account (NSA) 1845.

Maxwell Church, situated near the present Maxwellheugh, was given to Kelso Abbey by Herbert de Maxwell in the reign of David I (1124-53)

G Watson 1907.

Mr Laing, Border Union Agricultural Society, 30 The Square, Kelso, said that the burial ground was completely removed in 1960 during improvements to the showground wherein it stood. No trace is left of either church or graveyard.

Revised at 1/2500.

Visited by OS (RDL) 2 December 1963.

NT 724 336 A development was proposed in the vicinity of the site of St Michael's Church and burial ground (NMRS NT73SW 17) immediately to the S of the confluence of the rivers Tweed and Teviot in Kelso. This church was given to the monks of Kelso Abbey in the 12th century. The remains of the church and burial ground were demolished around 1960 during improvements to the showground of Springwood Park. No surface traces of the site now remain. Deep deposits of alluvial silt were discovered during the excavation. Soft sand was discovered underlying the silt at a depth of 1.1m. No features of anthropogenic origin were discovered during the evaluation.

Remains of the church may still survive within the development area, possibly below the existing storage building closer to the presumed site of the church.

Report to be lodged with the NMRS.

Sponsor: Roger G Dodd & Company.

K Cameron 2001

Activities

Sbc Note (21 March 2016)

Visibility: This was the site of an archaeological monument, which may no longer be visible.

Information from Scottish Borders Council

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