A remarkable structure, which stands near the Forth at the head of a
small bay about two miles south-west from Aberdour, the road to it
passing through the beautiful grounds of St. Colm House.
The old church (Fig. 1520) forms the eastern part of the structure,
while to the west has been erected a two-story building, containing on
the ground floor a burial vault, and on the upper floor a “laird’s loft”
or room for the Lord of the Manor, from which access was obtained to a
gallery in the church.
The ancient church was dedicated to St. Bridget in 1244. It retains a
simple pointed doorway at the south-west angle, a number of altered and
square-headed windows in the south wall, and a piscina at the east end
of the same wall, but there are scarcely any of the old details
preserved to indicate the date of the building. It has evidently been
greatly altered, to make it suitable for Presbyterian worship after the
Reformation. There are two projecting buildings on the north side and
one on the south
[Illustration: FIG. 1520.--St. Bridget’s Church, Dalgety. Plan of Ground
Floor.]
side, all much ruined, but the mouldings of the jambs of the northern
projections at the openings into the church are preserved and indicate
Renaissance work. These outside structures were probably burial vaults.
[Illustration: FIG. 1521.--St. Bridget’s Church, Dalgety. View from
South-West.]
The house at the west end is undoubtedly post-Reformation. In the vault
is buried the celebrated Chancellor Seaton, and the building, to judge
[Illustration: FIG. 1522.--St. Bridget’s Church, Dalgety.