This very complete and almost unaltered church stands on the high north
bank of the river Tweed, nearly opposite Norham Castle. Before the
Reformation the parish consisted of the two parishes of Upsetlington and
Horndene. In 1296 the parson of the former swore fealty to Edward I.,
who, while endeavouring to arrange regarding the succession to the crown
of Scotland, adjourned the Scottish Parliament from Brigham in England
to an open field in Upsetlington. The existing church is said to have
been built in 1500, and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin by James IV., in
gratitude for his delivery from being drowned by a sudden flood of the
river Tweed.
The structure (Fig. 1140) is a specially characteristic example of the
Scottish church architecture of the period. It is a triapsidal cross
church, without aisles, having an apsidal termination at the east end of
the chancel and at the north and south ends of the transept. The body
of the church and the transepts are covered with pointed barrel vaults,
with ribs at intervals, springing from small corbels (Fig. 1141); and
the whole is roofed with overlapping stone flags (Fig. 1142). The nave
and chancel are 94 feet 6 inches in length by 23 feet 3 inches in width
internally, and the transepts, which are very short, each measures 12
feet in depth from north to south by 19 feet in width. The side windows
are of considerable width, but being entirely below the springing of the
vault, they are low compared with the height of the church. The side
walls rise greatly above the windows on the exterior, and have a heavy
appearance, while the lofty vaults of the interior render the building
dark. The arches
[Illustration: FIG. 1140.--Ladykirk Church. Plan.]
which open from the main church into the transepts (see Fig. 1141) are
also kept below the springing of the main vault, and are therefore low,
but the windows in the transepts are kept well up. To resist the
pressure of the heavy vaults and roof the walls are well buttressed, and
the buttresses terminate with the somewhat stunted pinnacles in vogue at
the time. It will be noticed that the overlapping stone roofs are
constructed in three distinct portions, viz., one roof extending over
the whole of the nave and chancel, and two separate roofs over each
transept. The roofs and vaults of each of the transepts terminate
against a gable raised on the side walls of the main part of the church,
and the transepts are entered by low arches, on which these gables
rest.
[Illustration: FIG. 1141.--Ladykirk Church. Interior, looking East.]
[Illustration: FIG. 1142.--Ladykirk Church. View from South-West.]
Both the interior and exterior of the church are quite plain, especially
the former, in which there is no attempt at ornament of any kind. As
regards the exterior, the buttresses with their pinnacles, and the
windows with their simple tracery, give a pleasing effect, especially as
seen from the east (Fig. 1143).
Perhaps the most striking feature of the exterior is the elliptic form
of the arches over the side windows of the nave and choir (see Fig.
1142). This peculiar form has evidently resulted from the desire to make
these windows as wide as possible, so as to admit light. But as all the
window
[Illustration: FIG. 1143.--Ladykirk Church. View from South-East.]
arches required to be kept below the springing of the vaults, the
interior is but imperfectly lighted. There are three doorways in the
building--the south-west door in the nave, the priest’s door in the
chancel, and a door in the south transept. These are all semicircular in
the arch-head, as is common in Scottish examples. That in the south
transept is now built up.
The tower at the west end is 14 feet square externally. The lower part
is of the same date as the church, and has the base courses returning
round it. The upper part has been rebuilt. The doorway to the tower is
from the outside.