Bunkle & Preston

Parish No 728 Bunkle & Preston is located within the County of Berwickshire, which is now known as the Scottish Borders.  The village of Bunkle has long since disappeared due to the drift in population.  The village of Preston still exists, for a map showing the location of Preston please click here.

"These united parishes, lying in Berwickshire, form a square of nearly 6 miles. The soil on the high lands, towards the Lammermuir hills, is thin, dry, and poor; but has of late been much improved with lime and marl. The rest of the parish, particularly on the banks of the Whittader, which runs through it, is a fertile loam. A considerable number of sheep are fed for the English market. Clay marl is found in great abundance on the banks of the Whittader, which has been of great use as a manure. There is plenty of moor and freestone. A copper mine was lately discovered on Lord Douglas' estate; but, though very rich at first, it became so poor that it was given up. Population in 1801, 674."

from Gazetteer of Scotland published 1806, Edinburgh.

The Parishes were united in 1621 by the Presbytery on the orders of Parliament, suggesting that there was mutual antagonism between the two parishes which persisted until the end of the century.  Bunkle seemed to support the Covenanters and Preston appeared to be more Episcopalian.  Each Parish had its own Church.  Both Churches were used until 1718 when Preston Church was given up in favour of the Church at Bunkle.  The old Church at Bunkle stood in the churchyard to the south of the present Parish Church.  All that remains of it is the Norman apse which was once used as a burial vault.  The Parish Church of Bunkle & Preston stands in the old churchyard.  The remains of Preston Church are in the Parish Graveyard near to the village of Preston. 

Church History

Bunkle Old Church

Bunkle was a rare Church of the Bishop of Dunkeld by 1275.  This meant that the income from the Church supplied the needs of the Bishop’s table.  The parish, like Preston belonged to the Bishopric of Dunkeld.

It was a perpetual vicarage with the appointment of the vicar being in the hands of Dunkeld.  In 1378 Thomas de Tornellis said he was ready to resign the perpetual vicarage of Bunkle to obtain another church.  His plea was heard and he was replaced by Thomas Cornell, who in the following year was granted Tannadice Parish.

In 1660 Bunkle Church Choir was in ruins and no communion services could be held.  Bunkle Church continued to be used but in 1669 the Church Council or Assembly of Dunkeld ordered services to be held at Preston only.  In 1670 the Bishop ordered that the roof of Bunkle Parish Church should be removed and replaced on Preston Church within 3 months.  At that time there was a fair sized village around Bunkle Castle which was a short distance west of the Parish Church.  There was only one house in the parish to the west of Preston Church, and the inhabitants of Bunkle felt it was too far to go, especially for baptisms.  Instead they preferred to attend conventicles [secret and sometimes illegal religious meetings].  The Church Council or Assembly at Dunkeld must have changed the decision to move to Preston Church, because by 1688 services were being held on alternate Sundays in the two churches.  Bunkle had extensive repairs in 1718, at the same Bunkle Parish Church was accepted as the only Church in the Parish of Bunkle & Preston.  Preston Church was abandoned to be used as burial vaults.

Ministers of Bunkle Old Church

1582 – 1598    William Sinclair

1599 – 1607    George Redpath

1607 – 1612    Matthew Carrail

1614 – 1621    John Gaittis

Preston Church

Like Bunkle, Preston belonged to the Bishopric of Dunkeld.  It is thought that Preston Church was probably built in the 12th Century.  Preston Church fell into disrepair and eventually ruins after it was abandoned in 1718 when Bunkle Church became the Parish Church.  Preston Parish Church is now a burial aisle.

In 1671 the Presbytery ordered that repairs to Preston Parish Church be hastened.  In 1683 it was decided that Preston Parish Church were to have the windows glazed.  A fairly large crack in the north wall of Preston Parish Church of about 4.6m had to be rebuilt in 1688, when services were being conducted there on alternate Sundays.  After the accession of William and Mary there was a riot against the Episcopalian Minister in 1689, during which the church bell was thrown into the river by the mob.

The remains of Preston Church are in the parish graveyard which lies about 600m south west of the village of Preston.  The church and old graveyard are on the raised ground above the Whiteadder and the new part of the graveyard is on the slope down to the haughland near Preston Bridge.  All that remains of the original Preston Parish Church is the gable ends and parts of the south wall.  The ruins show that the Parish Church measured about 21 by 4.5m. 

Bunkle and Preston Parish Church

Other than the Church Manse, Bunkle Parish Church is more than 750m from the nearest house.  It lies south of Duns on the Auchencraw road.  The Church is approximately 3 miles by road from the village of Preston and about 250m from Bunkle Castle.

The Parish Church was rebuilt in 1820.  Bunkle and Preston Parish Church was constructed mainly from building material removed from the original church which was located just a few feet away.  There is a small pinnacle on the east gable wall which is thought to have come from the old Parish Church and is therefore probably medieval.  The belfry has a small bell embossed with the numerals ‘1782’.

Ministers of Bunkle and Preston Church

1614 – 1640    John Gaittis

1650 – 1664    Robert Colden

1665 – 1677    George Trotter

1678 – 1689    Alexander Nicolson

1690 – 1693    Alexander Colden

1696 – 1704    Ninian Home

1706 – 1761    Walter Hart

1765 – 1801    Robert Douglas

1802 – 1818    Robert Campbell

1819 – 1843    Archibald McConechy

1843 – 1880    John Dunlop

1880 – 1922    Ludovic Mair

1923 – 1935    Donald W MacKay

1935 – 1946    Thomas Gillieson

1947 – 1953    Eric W Sutherland

1954 – 1958    John H Trotter

Linked with Reston in 1958

1959 – 1968    James N Hutchison

1968 – 1972    James A Bremner

Linked with Chirnside in 1973, link with Reston ended

1973 – 1993    William P Graham

1993                William Paterson

Population

Here are some figures showing the Parish's population through time:

1755

691

 

1851

715

 

1921

542

1790

622

 

1861

756

 

1931

507

1801

674

 

1871

764

 

1951

417

1811

766

 

1881

727

 

1961

343

1821

787

 

1891

675

 

1971

324

1831

748

 

1901

629

 

 

 

1841

 

 

1911

562

 

 

 

 

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