Church Overview

This characteristic Scottish 18th-century kirk, with its plain glass and white-washed walls, was built on the site of a medieval church that dated from before 1153. A surviving charter from that year  records that “Geoffrey de Percé, with the consent of Henry de Percé, his brother and heir, granted to the monks of Jedburgh, the church of Oxenham and two bovates of land adjacent to the church.”

There was, for a long time, a local tradition that a bell from the old church was carried off by English raiders during the Anglo-Scottish Wars and hung in Durham Cathedral. No evidence to support this tale has survived, nor has any trace of the medieval church itself. The present kirk was constructed in 1738 and enlarged to create its current T-plan layout in 1879, when its capacity was increased to seat 400 worshippers. It’s peaceful plastered interior is focused on the pulpit and beautiful communion table, that was gifted by the Women’s Guild in 1933 in memory of the Rev PB Gunn. The church also houses an organ built and installed in 1990 by Lammermuir Pipe Organs.

An iron ‘joug collar’, used by the kirk session in the 17th and 18th centuries to punish and publicly humiliate those parishioners deemed to have transgressed their strict moral codes, still hangs on the exterior wall of the kirk, offering stark testament of an era when ecclesiastical discipline governed modes of social behaviour in Scotland. There are also many fine 17th and 18th century gravestones in the surrounding kirkyard and a “Loupin on stane” still sits at the church gates, which once assisted parishioners mounting their horses after a service.

In August 2024, the rural congregation was united with Jedburgh Old & Trinity Church in August 2024 and linked with Ale and Teviot Churches. 

Services

On the first and third Sundays of each month at 11am (check church’s social media accounts for details of service changes).

Opening Arrangements

Open by arrangement

Disclaimer

The information about churches in Scotland’s Churches Scheme has been provided by the congregations or taken from the Historic Scotland list and published sources, in particular, the Buildings of Scotland volumes and the RIAS Illustrated Architectural Guides. To contact this specific church please complete the Contact this Church form above. The information is not authoritative; please contact Scotland’s Churches Trust to let us know of any errors or omissions.