A millennium of roots

Today’s congregation of Kelso North & Country Churches can trace its roots back by almost a thousand years.

The present parish is a unique combination of different strands of Scottish church tradition. Whilst its origins can be traced back for centuries it was not until as recently as the 80’s that KNCC began to look like it does today…

 
 
  • There has been a church at Ednam since the eleventh century and worship according to the practice of the Established Church has continued uninterrupted there ever since.

    Ednam Church was the first registered parish in Scotland and celebrated its 900th anniversary in 2005

    The foundation charter of the Parish of Ednam is the earliest document of its type in existence and is in the library of Durham Cathedral.

    A framed copy hangs on the west wall of the Church.

  • The Parish of Kelso was for generations centred upon Kelso Abbey, part of which was used as the Parish Church until the latter part of the eighteenth century.

    The first of three secessions from Parish Church occurred in 1753 and each of them resulted in the creation of a separate congregation with its own meeting place or church.

    Two of them subsequently merged and over a century later built Trinity Church at the foot of Bowmont Street. The other erected Edenside Church in The Horsemarket. Both Churches were part of the United Presbyterian Church.

  • Early in the nineteenth century population changes meant that new parishes were needed, and in 1837, the Parish of Kelso North came into being.

    A new building, the North Parish Church, was erected in Inch Road and the first Minister was the Revd Horatius Bonar, 'The Prince of Scottish Hymn Writers'.

    With the disruption in 1843, over a third of the ministers and members of the Church of Scotland broke away to form the Free Church of Scotland (later merging with the United Presbyterian Church to form the United Free Church). Included in their number were Horatius Bonar and his entire congregation.

    The North Parish Church in Inch Road had in consequence to be returned to the Church of Scotland and was in due course demolished.

    A new Church, Kelso North Free Church, was built in Roxburgh Street.

    Designed by Thomas Fredrick Pilkington, it opened in 1866. This is our church building today.

    Forty years later the congregation joined with Sprouston Free Church to become St John's United Free Church.

  • In 1932, shortly after the Union of the Church of Scotland and the United Free Church (1929), the congregation of Edenside was united with St John's to become St John's-Edenside.

    Edenside Church was sold and for many years was used as the former Roxy Cinema.

    In 1952, the Parish of Ednam ceased to be a viable unit, mainly because of rural depopulation, and the congregation was united with St John's-Edenside and Ednam.

    In the meantime, the congregation of the North Parish Church in Inch Road was merged in 1941 with Trinity Church to form Trinity North.

  • As a result of a reorganisation of parishes in 1980, Trinity North was in turn united that year with St John's Edenside and Ednam to form the present congregation of the Parish of Kelso North and Ednam.

    The Trinity North Church building in Bowmont Street was sold for secular purposes and the site in Inch Road is still in use for commercial purposes and as a public car park.

 

Kelso Churches Together

Kelso Churches Together (KCT) is committed to exploring ways in which we can serve God, both within our church families and in and around our local communities.

The group of KCT shares occasional services throughout the year - and also co-ordinates some outreach work - with the other local Church of Scotland, the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Baptist Church and the Society of Friends congregations.

On Wednesday of Holy Week, a church will host a joint service, where all churches lead worship together and provide an opportunity for tea, coffee and fellowship for worshippers afterwards. An outdoor service is held annually, during the summer months. KCT hosts a tent at the Borders Union Show each year.

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:10