The origins of our Earlston Parish Church are uncertain. However, a church has been recorded on this site since the 12^thC, and the records tell us that there have been at least five buildings here.

The charter founding Melrose Abbey was signed in Earlston by King David in 1136; and in the 13^thC the stronghold of the Earl of March and Dunbar lay a hundred yards away at East Green; so it’s likely that Earlston’s church was a fairly prominent one.

Inside the vestibule there's a twelfth-century cross, probably taken from a tombstone: but its origin is a mystery.

On the eastern wall of the church is a stone commemorating Thomas Learmonth the Rhymer (late 13^thC), whose family dwelt in Rhymer’s Tower.  This stone was re-cut and transferred to a previous church building in 1736, and then again for the last time in 1892 when the present one was built.

Today it’s a thriving centre of the community. As well as celebrating popular civic events its congregation is well represented in the sixty-odd village clubs and associations; and its Stewardship campaign (see separate pages) aims to make these links even deeper.

Auld Rymr race
lyees in this place