650-1700 AD

7th Century Beginnings

It is believed that after St Cuthbert visited the area during his missionary travels from Northumbria in the second half of the 7th century, a church was founded in his name – “the Kirk of St Cuthbert,” otherwise known as “Kirkcudbright,” which also became the name of the town. Cuthbert later returned to Northumbria, where he died and was buried on Lindisfarne in 687 AD.

When Norsemen raided the coast of Northumbria in 875, the Lindisfarne monks fled westward, taking with them their holy relics which included the bones of St Cuthbert. Kirkcubright was just one of their sanctuaries but Cuthbert’s remains were moved several times during the next few hundred years, before eventually coming to rest in Durham Cathedral early in the 12th century.

It is likely that the original church building at Kirkcudbright was sited above the town, within the area now occupied by St. Cuthbert’s graveyard, where a group of yew trees, planted in 1838, indicates its likely location.

13th – 17th Century – Developments

The Franciscans (Grey Friars) first came to Britain in 1224. Their influence spread northwards and they later established a friary in Kirkcudbright near the Moat Brae.

At the Reformation in 1564 the Friary Church became the Parish Church, which it remained until 1730. During that period there were fifteen ministers, probably the most notable, appointed in 1594, being John Welsh, the son-in-law of John Knox.  Welsh was banished from Britain because of his opposition to the Episcopal form of worship being promoted in Scotland. He was finally allowed to return to live in London where he died in 1622.

In Scotland at that time, a struggle continued between Church and Monarchy, over the form of worship to be carried out in churches, the details of which are too complex to pursue here. Suffice it to say that King Charles I was crowned in Edinburgh in 1633 and as part of his policy to create a uniform religion in the land, ordered that the Anglican Book of Common Prayer should be used in Scotland.

Scotland had been too long Presbyterian to accept this and in 1638 a Covenant was signed by many people throughout Scotland, objecting to the King’s ruling. During the Covenanting period many of the local ministers keenly supported the Covenant, causing difficulties that involved Lord Kirkcudbright. (This title had been bestowed on Sir Robert Maclellan of Bombie in 1633 by Charles I on a visit to Scotland). His support for the Covenanters led to his ruin.