The Parish Church of Lanark existed in the twelfth century, and was
conveyed, with its possessions, to the Abbey of Dryburgh by David I.
This conveyance is frequently confirmed in subsequent deeds.
[Illustration: FIG. 672.--St. Kentigern’s. Plan.]
[Illustration: FIG. 673.--St. Kentigern’s. View from North-West.]
The church, from time to time, received numerous gifts of lands and
houses from the burgesses and the neighbouring proprietors. Amongst
other endowments, a chaplaincy was founded in the beginning of the
fifteenth century by John Simpson, burgess of the town. The income of
the church and its lands was drawn by the monks of Dryburgh, and the
cure was served by a vicar and curates. At the Reformation the lands
went with the Abbey of Dryburgh, which was erected into a temporal
barony.[102]
The Church of St. Kentigern was used for service long after the
Reformation, and was only abandoned when a new church was erected in the
middle of the town in 1777.
[Illustration: BASE OF DOORWAY AT A