This church is situated near the well known castle of the same name in
the south-east part of the county, and about nine miles from Edinburgh.
With the exception of the south aisle or chapel, the church (Fig. 1136)
was entirely rebuilt about forty years ago.[103] To judge from what of
the old plan can now be made out, the structure has originally been a
Norman one, with aisleless nave and choir, and a circular eastern apse.
The reconstruction of the edifice included that of the apse and the
south wall of the chancel, which, although not entirely new, are yet
practically so, none of the ancient architectural features being left,
but only, at most, some of the walling. The apse is about 16 feet wide
by about 10 feet 6 inches deep, and was lighted by three narrow widely
splayed windows. The chancel was about 16 feet 6 inches long by 22 feet
wide. The south wall contained two windows, and apparently a piscina,
but all these features have disappeared, as well as the more important
arches which formed the entrance to the chancel and the apse.
A south aisle or chapel (see Fig. 1136) has been added to the church. It
is entire and is a good example of Scottish Gothic of the latter half of
the fifteenth century, having in all probability been built about the
same time as the castle, the licence for the erection of which is dated
1430. William de Borthwick, a man of some eminence, was created Lord
Borthwick shortly before that date, and the aisle is believed to have
been erected by him. This aisle is vaulted with a pointed barrel vault,
covered on the
[Illustration: FIG. 1136.--St. Mungo’s Church. Plan.]
outside with a stone roof (Fig. 1137), to resist the thrusts of which
massive buttresses are provided. The roof consists of overlapping stone
flags, carefully wrought, and the cornice at the wall head (Fig. 1138)
is ornamented with carved heads and leaves alternately. The chapel
contains in the south wall a recess for a monument, and the remains of
two piscinas and a locker in the south and west walls. There is a small
pointed window in
[Illustration: FIG. 1137.--St. Mungo’s Church. South Aisle, from
South-West.]
the west side, and a larger one in the south end. The tracery of the
latter is probably modern, as is the west doorway. The wide arch which
[Illustration: FIG. 1138.--St. Mungo’s Church. Cornice of Aisle.]
formerly opened into the church has been built up.
A stately monument (Fig. 1139), containing two recumbent figures, is
built against the east wall of the aisle. The statues are supposed to be
those of the founder of the castle and the aisle, the first Lord
Borthwick and his wife, who was a Douglas. The monument is not now in
its original position. Before the time of the rebuilding it stood in
the inside of the wall of the apse, and it was then removed and placed
in its present position, where it has apparently suffered from
[Illustration: FIG. 1139.--St. Mungo’s Church. Monument of Lord
Borthwick and his Wife.]
over restoration. The effigies, which are remarkably well preserved,
have been entirely coloured, and considerable traces of the colour still
remain. The length of the arched recess in which the figures lie is 7
feet, and the depth of the recess 3 feet 8½ inches. The height to the
arched recess is about 3 feet 6½ inches, and the total height of the
monument is 10 feet 3 inches, and the width over the buttresses 8 feet
11 inches. The design is of a usual form, and the enrichments indicate a
late date in the fifteenth century.
The Church of Borthwick was annexed by Chancellor Crichton to his newly
erected College of Crichton. After the Reformation Borthwick was united
to Heriot and Stow, and served by a reader, but in 1596 James VI.
erected it into a separate parish. In 1606 the kirk-session complained
that the church was falling into ruin for want of proper repair.
Commissioners from the Presbytery met the complainers, and after
deliberation they refused to “stent” themselves for the repair of the
church, but offered instead to sell the vestry (see Plan) “as a family
burial-place to any gentleman who would pay such a price as would enable
them to repair the choir.”[104] An offer of the building was made to Sir
James Dundas of Arniston, who ultimately purchased it, and with the
money thus raised the church appears to have been repaired in a rough
fashion. The chancel arch was built up and a gable wall erected above
it, which thus became the east end of the church, and the apse was left
outside. A gallery was then placed against the east gable. The structure
remained in this condition till 1780, when it was destroyed by fire. The
walls which survived the fire are those shown on the Plan (see Fig.
1136). The vestry (now the Dundas burial vault) and south aisle, both
having stone roofs, remain comparatively unscathed. The nave and the
north wall of the chancel have entirely disappeared.