Old and New

If you were traveling along the Via Regia en route from the north to the Border Abbeys of Southern Scotland, you would have come across a windswept place of haven on the hills. This was the largest hospital in mediaeval Scotland, and it was called The House of the Holy Trinity. It was run by Augustinian Canons.

In a letter to Rome in 1444 the whole status of the foundation and the purpose of the hospital is discussed, where it is stated that it was "the founder's intention to found there a hospital for the reception of the poor rather than a religious place". Its description of the site says: "the church is built at the top of a hill near a public way where there are often fierce winds and frequent cold spells".

In addition to looking after the sick, the friars took in travellers and pilgrims traveling to shrines in the Borders and further afield. Being on the main route from the English Border, it was at Soutra that many involved in the Wars of Scottish Independence would have passed in both directions, seeking refuge at this lonely stop on the edge of the Border hill country.

Mediæval society was afraid of sickness and pestilence, and maybe this is why the hospital was built in such a remote place. Recent archaeological works have revealed evidence of rare seeds of medicinal herbs such as Henbane, Hemlock, and the non-native Opium Poppy.

This is all that remains now of the great hospital for the sick, and hospice for the traveler. Today those "fierce winds" are put to use by two large wind farms.