Dunglass Collegiate Church

The remains of this collegiate church are tucked away on the Dunglass Estate in the foothills of the Lammermuirs. I have photographed it several times previously but was keen to see whether the use of a drone would add greater perspective. It was a lovely clear sunny day and there was literally nobody about. This area is just beyond the boundary of the drone exclusion zone for the nuclear power station.

The term "Collegiate Church" covered a variety of sins, often literally. Collegiate Churches were generally endowed by the great and the good (and the rich) of the land. Each was served by a small religious community whose primary role was to pray for the souls of their benefactor, his wife, and his family. Presumably the idea was to relieve the great and the good of the onerous burden of praying for their own souls. Lennon and McCartney may have been right in suggesting that "money can't buy you love": but in the Scotland of the 1400s many believed it could buy you salvation.


Dunglass Collegiate Church lies just north of Cockburnspath. It was founded by Sir Alexander Home in 1444, and its founding charter was confirmed by King James II and by the Pope in 1450. When originally founded it was staffed by a college of priests (hence the description "collegiate") comprising a provost, three chaplains, and four boy-choristers.