Haddington, E Lothian - St. Mary's Church - Skilton postcard c.1970s

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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The Royal Burgh of Haddington (Scots: Haidintoun^[1]) is a town in East Lothian, Scotland. It is the main administrative, cultural and geographical centre for East Lothian, which as a result of late-nineteenth century Scottish local government reforms took the form of the county of Haddingtonshire for the period from 1889-1921. It lies about 17 miles (27 km) east of Edinburgh.^[2] The name Haddington is Anglo-Saxon, dating from the sixth or seventh century AD^[3] when the area was incorporated into the kingdom of Bernicia. The town, like the rest of the Lothian region, was ceded by King Edgar of England and became part of Scotland in the tenth century. Haddington received burghal status, one of the earliest to do so, during the reign of David I (1124–1153),^[4] giving it trading rights which encouraged its growth into a market town.

Today Haddington is a small town with a population of fewer than 10,000 people; although during the High Middle Ages, it was the fourth-biggest city in Scotland after Aberdeen, Roxburgh and Edinburgh. In the middle of the town is the Town House, built in 1748 according to a plan by William Adam. When first built, it inheld a council chamber, jail and sheriff court, to which assembly rooms were added in 1788, and a new clock in 1835. Nearby is the Corn Exchange (1854) and the County Courthouse (1833). Other nearby notable sites include the Jane Welsh Carlyle House, Mitchell's Close and the birthplace of author and government reformer Samuel Smiles on the High Street, marked by a commemorative plaque.

The Parish Church of St Mary's is today part of the Church of Scotland, but includes an Episcopalian chapel, the Lauderdale Aisle, containing the mausoleum of the Maitland Earls of Lauderdale. It is the longest parish church in Scotland and is in regular use for worship and musical events. It is directly adjacent to the River Tyne, beside the twelfth century Nungate Bridge.

The present building (built with red sandstone from nearby Garvald) was started in 1375 (an earlier St Mary's Church having been destroyed by the English in 1356), and consecrated in 1410, despite building work not being finished until 1487. The church was partially destroyed during the 1548-49 Siege of Haddington that followed the Rough Wooing of Henry VIII, and on the advice of John Knox, it was restored "frae the tower to the West door". Thus the nave became the church and the choir and transepts were left ruined until the whole church was restored in the 1970s. The Lammermuir pipe organ was built in 1990.

A set of eight bells hung for full change ringing was installed for the Millennium.

Haddington War Memorial stands at the west entrance to the churchyard.