Cross Kirk, Peebles

About Cross Kirk

The ruins of this Church, together with some fragments of some domestic buildings, lie to the north of the town centre and town centre would have been outside the limits of the medieval burgh. The kirk was named after a cross which had been found on the site in 1261. The 14th century chronicler Fordoun gave an account of the probable events:

“…in the 13th year of the reign of King Alexander [III] a magnificent and venerable cross was found at Peebles… on the outside of the stone was carved ‘the place of St Nicholas the Bishop’ (‘locus sancti Nicolai episcopi’)…the King on the advice of the Bishop of Glasgow caused a handsome church to be built there in honour of God and of Holy Rood”

It is possible that the recording of the inscription is incorrect but there is now way to check this. It may be that the real inscription was NEITANOS SACRFDOS or “Neitan the Priest [Bishop]” as a stone with this ancient inscription was found in a wall in Old Town. This stone is now to be found in the Tweeddale Museum in the Chambers Institution.

In 1474 the Kirk became a house of Trinitarian friars, founded by King James III. The Trinitarian Order (or ‘Red Friars’) was founded in 1198 and was dedicated to obtaining the release of Christian prisoners from the Saracens. Along with St Andrew‘s, Cross Kirk was razed in 1549 by the Earl of Hertford and was ruinous eleven years later when the friars were dispersed. Cross Kirk was used us the parish church for Peebles between 1560 and 1784 when the site was which unfortunately had a detrimental effect on the historical value of the building. There are many fine old gravestones to be found in the graveyard.