Earlston

 

Parish No 736 Earlston is located within the County of Berwickshire which is now known as the Scottish Borders.  Earlston lies approximately 3 miles north of Newton St Boswells.  For a map showing the location of Earlston please click here.

 

"A village and parish in the district of Berwickshire called Lauderdale. The extent of the parish is about 6 miles in length, and from 3 to 4 in breadth; washed on the E. border by the Eden, and on the W. by the Leader, both of which rivers abound with trout. Towards the banks of the Eden the surface is level, and the soil light and dry; in the western border it is more uneven, and the soil inclines to a strong tough clay. There are several extensive plantations, and many fields are sheltered by belts and clumps of planting. There are several villages, of which Earlstoun and Mellerstain are the largest. The former is in a low situation, almost surrounded with hills, and is famous as the birth-place of Sir Thomas Learmont, commonly called the Rhymer. He flourished in the 13th century, and part of his house is still standing, called Rhymer's Tower ... Population in 1801, 478."

 

from Gazetteer of Scotland published 1806, Edinburgh.

 

Church History

 

Earlston Parish Church

 

The parish church was known as Ercildoune Church until the union with St John’s Church in 1946.

 

Earlston was a subsidiary chapel to Edrom Church despite there being a distance of around 19 miles.  As far as I can find all the parish churches of Earlston have been on the same site.  It is possible that there have been as many as 5 parish churches throughout time to have been built on this site.  The present day parish church is believed to have been built in the 1890’s

 

Earlston East or St John’s Church

 

Unhappy with the doctrines taught by the church minister John Gowdie some of his congregation in 1738 joined the Secession Church.  They began to attend Stichill Secession Church.  In 1750 a minister was allocated to Earlston, he also preached in Hume once a month. 

 

The local landowners refused to sell any of their land for a church site or to supply building materials.  However eventually Baillie of Mellerstain agreed to sell building materials to John Barnet who was a local builder.  John Barnet had his own small plot of land and began to build the church on that.  The Church John Barnet built had seating for around 400 people.  The church was then sold to the congregation for £40.  This church unfortunately proved to be unsuitable for the purpose and had to be replaced in 1792 with a church capable of holding around 500 people.

Population

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

1755

1197

 

1831

1710

 

1871

 

1791

1351

 

1841

 

 

1881

1771

1801

1478

 

1851

 

 

1891

 

1811

1528

 

1861

1825

 

1901

 

1821

1703

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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