The History of Crichton<\/span><\/h1><\/div>Around 1440, in the reign of King James II, William Crichton, then Lord Chancellor of Scotland, began this building, which may have been the site of an even older Christian shrine, and by 1449 his Collegiate Church was complete.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>VISITING INFORMATION
\n<\/span><\/p><\/h3><\/div>The Church is open to visitors on Sunday afternoons between 2 and 5pm, May to September.<\/span><\/p>\nFor how to get here, plus information on parking, accessibility and facilities please visit our Contact page.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>CONTACT US<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>Five hundred years ago, if you had paused outside this church of St. Mary and St. Kentigern, you would have heard the sound of a choir singing.\u00a0 The Mass in Latin, the form of worship of every church in Scotland before the Reformation, was sung here every day.\u00a0 The singers, few in number, performed music that can still be heard now in the work of some of Scotland’s greatest medieval composers like Robert Carver, an Augustinian monk.\u00a0 At the heart of the Mass was prayer – in this place offered up especially for the rich and powerful family of Lord Crichton, who lived a few hundred yards away in Crichton Castle<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>![\"Crichton](\"https:\/\/www.crichtonchurch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Crichton-Castle.jpg\")
<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>Around 1440, in the reign of King James II, William Crichton, then Lord Chancellor of Scotland, began this building, which may have been the site of an even older Christian shrine, and by 1449 his Collegiate Church was complete.\u00a0 ‘Collegiate’ describes churches where priests and singing boys were recruited to pray daily for the souls of the great families who built and owned them.<\/p>\n
Lord Crichton led one of the three greatest Scottish families of the fifteenth century.\u00a0 The Livingstones, the Douglases and the Crichtons were often at war with each other.\u00a0 If the church looks like part of a fortified building, it is a reminder of dangerous days in this part of Scotland.<\/p>\n<\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>![\"Crichton](\"https:\/\/www.crichtonchurch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Crichton-Church.jpg\")
<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>At the time when this church was founded, there were around fifteen hundred churches around the British Isles where services were sung daily.\u00a0 An enormous number of people, possibly as many as twelve thousand, were singing the daily offices for wealthy patrons.\u00a0 Following the Reformation, a hundred years after the foundation of Crichton Church, that number had fallen to a mere fifty here in Scotland.<\/p>\n
Only thirty years after this church’s foundation, Lord Crichton fell from favour, having been implicated in a conspiracy against James III of Scotland.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>![\"Crichton](\"https:\/\/www.crichtonchurch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/19th-century-interior.jpg\")
<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>At the time of the Reformation everything changed.\u00a0 The Reformers believed that Churches needed to be ‘cleansed’.\u00a0 Tapestries, hangings, paintings, stained glass windows and statues – all held to be idolatrous – were destroyed.\u00a0 In 1543 an Act of the Scottish Parliament declared that ‘it shall be lawful to all men to read the Bible in the mother-tongue’.\u00a0 Instead of Holy Communion at the High Altar, a book, the Bible, became the focus for Christian worship.<\/p>\n<\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>![\"Crichton](\"https:\/\/www.crichtonchurch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/19th-century-pulpit.jpg\")
<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>After the Reformation, stripped back to an earth floor, with all the glass gone from the windows, most of the lovely medieval stone tracery destroyed, this church had become almost a ruin.\u00a0 Only the great Chancel roof survived.\u00a0 Some time around 1825 the church came back to life and was altered so that as many as six hundred people could come and hear the Minister preach the Word of God.<\/p>\n<\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>![\"Crichton](\"https:\/\/www.crichtonchurch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/IMG_0045.jpg\")
<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>Although no longer a parish kirk, Crichton Collegiate Church survives, a sacred place that is loved and used for worship, for music, for weddings, for welcoming visitors and for community gatherings of different kinds.\u00a0 The building is still evolving and the Friends of Crichton Church are helping in that evolution.\u00a0 Nothing should be static if it is to continue to serve the needs of the people as it did in its earliest time.<\/p>\n
A full history and visitor guide is available at the Church.<\/p>\n<\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>Read more\u2026<\/span><\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div>Founded in 1449, Crichton is one of Scotland’s oldest and best preserved Collegiate Churches.<\/p>\n<\/div>
Around 1440, in the reign of King James II, William Crichton, then Lord Chancellor of Scotland, began this building, which may have been the site of an even older Christian shrine, and by 1449 his Collegiate Church was complete.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div> VISITING INFORMATION The Church is open to visitors on Sunday afternoons between 2 and 5pm, May to September.<\/span><\/p>\n For how to get here, plus information on parking, accessibility and facilities please visit our Contact page.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div> Five hundred years ago, if you had paused outside this church of St. Mary and St. Kentigern, you would have heard the sound of a choir singing.\u00a0 The Mass in Latin, the form of worship of every church in Scotland before the Reformation, was sung here every day.\u00a0 The singers, few in number, performed music that can still be heard now in the work of some of Scotland’s greatest medieval composers like Robert Carver, an Augustinian monk.\u00a0 At the heart of the Mass was prayer – in this place offered up especially for the rich and powerful family of Lord Crichton, who lived a few hundred yards away in Crichton Castle<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n<\/div> Around 1440, in the reign of King James II, William Crichton, then Lord Chancellor of Scotland, began this building, which may have been the site of an even older Christian shrine, and by 1449 his Collegiate Church was complete.\u00a0 ‘Collegiate’ describes churches where priests and singing boys were recruited to pray daily for the souls of the great families who built and owned them.<\/p>\n Lord Crichton led one of the three greatest Scottish families of the fifteenth century.\u00a0 The Livingstones, the Douglases and the Crichtons were often at war with each other.\u00a0 If the church looks like part of a fortified building, it is a reminder of dangerous days in this part of Scotland.<\/p>\n<\/div> At the time when this church was founded, there were around fifteen hundred churches around the British Isles where services were sung daily.\u00a0 An enormous number of people, possibly as many as twelve thousand, were singing the daily offices for wealthy patrons.\u00a0 Following the Reformation, a hundred years after the foundation of Crichton Church, that number had fallen to a mere fifty here in Scotland.<\/p>\n Only thirty years after this church’s foundation, Lord Crichton fell from favour, having been implicated in a conspiracy against James III of Scotland.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div> At the time of the Reformation everything changed.\u00a0 The Reformers believed that Churches needed to be ‘cleansed’.\u00a0 Tapestries, hangings, paintings, stained glass windows and statues – all held to be idolatrous – were destroyed.\u00a0 In 1543 an Act of the Scottish Parliament declared that ‘it shall be lawful to all men to read the Bible in the mother-tongue’.\u00a0 Instead of Holy Communion at the High Altar, a book, the Bible, became the focus for Christian worship.<\/p>\n<\/div> After the Reformation, stripped back to an earth floor, with all the glass gone from the windows, most of the lovely medieval stone tracery destroyed, this church had become almost a ruin.\u00a0 Only the great Chancel roof survived.\u00a0 Some time around 1825 the church came back to life and was altered so that as many as six hundred people could come and hear the Minister preach the Word of God.<\/p>\n<\/div> Although no longer a parish kirk, Crichton Collegiate Church survives, a sacred place that is loved and used for worship, for music, for weddings, for welcoming visitors and for community gatherings of different kinds.\u00a0 The building is still evolving and the Friends of Crichton Church are helping in that evolution.\u00a0 Nothing should be static if it is to continue to serve the needs of the people as it did in its earliest time.<\/p>\n A full history and visitor guide is available at the Church.<\/p>\n<\/div> Founded in 1449, Crichton is one of Scotland’s oldest and best preserved Collegiate Churches.<\/p>\n<\/div>
\n<\/span><\/p><\/h3><\/div><\/a><\/span><\/div><\/a><\/span><\/div><\/a><\/span><\/div><\/a><\/span><\/div><\/a><\/span><\/div>Read more\u2026<\/span><\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div>
![](\"https:\/\/www.crichtonchurch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/041.jpg\" "\\"041\\"")
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