The east gable and south wall of Wigtown’s eighteenth-century kirk survive beside its nineteenth-century successor.
Quick facts
- Date
- 1730; largely rebuilt 1770
- Architect / designer
- Builder unrecorded
- Type
- Roofless parish-church ruin
- Designation
- Listed building, Category B (LB42440)
- OS grid reference
- NX 43552 55518
Architecture and continuing use
Only parts of the rectangular church remain above ground, chiefly an ivy-marked east gable and south wall. Masonry at the south-east corner may preserve fragments of an earlier sacred building.
Its story
A parish church was built on the traditional St Machute site in 1730 and substantially renewed in 1770. It fell from ecclesiastical use after the present church opened nearby.
Why it is included
The ruin makes Wigtown’s sequence of parish worship physically legible and may incorporate fabric older than the eighteenth-century building.
What to notice
- Surviving east gable and south wall.
- Possible earlier masonry near the south-east angle.
- Close spatial relationship with the 1858 church.
Reading the surroundings
View from churchyard paths without climbing or touching the ruin. Ivy and masonry condition may change, and burials or maintenance take priority.
Timeline
- 1730 Heritors provided replacement worship accommodation for the burgh.
- 1770 The kirk underwent substantial reconstruction.
- 1858 Worship transferred to the new church immediately beside it.
What we know — and what remains uncertain
HES reports that earlier fragments are said to survive at one corner; their date and extent remain uncertain.
Sources & further reading
- Historic Environment Scotland: St Machute's Old Parish Church, LB42440 — Designation status, official mapped location, date, fabric, authorship and architectural or archaeological interest.
- Wigtown Conservation Area Character Appraisal — Townscape, churchyard and current conservation-area context.
Location
OS grid reference NX 43552 55518 · Location confidence: High: the national designation supplies an official mapped National Grid Reference and the second source confirms the Place relationship or current identity. · Select the marker to open its satellite view in Google Maps. On desktop, drag Pegman (the yellow figure) onto a blue road. On mobile, turn on the Street View layer and tap a blue road. Other photo markers may be user-contributed.
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