North Parish Church

About North Parish Church

There has been a church on this site since the early middle ages it's now the parish church for Kelso North and Ednam. The father of James Thomson the poet was minister here at the end of the 17th century. Born here in 1700, James was the author of “Rule Britannia” [see the nearby Thomson Monument]. On the right near the church gate can be seen the tomb of James Dickson, a local lad who made his fortune, became laird of Ednam and rebuilt the village in the 1770’s. Another plaque nearby commemorates the poet and churchman Henry Francis Lyte. Born in Ednam in 1793, Lyte wrote many beautiful hymns including “Abide with me.”