Dunglass Collegiate Church

A lovely, bright day with a strong breeze.

We had been told about the nearby Dunglass Estate, so we set off before lunch to explore it. In the grounds of the Estate is the Dunglass Collegiate Church, seen in my blip. Apparently, Sir Alexander Home founded it next to his castle in about 1443. He employed a Provost and three Chaplains to pray for the souls of his family, intending his church to be solely for the Home’s benefit.

The church, with its stone-vaulted roof and central tower, was used as a stronghold by both sides during the wars with England in the 1540’s.
A visitor in 1711 noted with horror that the 2nd baronet of Dunglass had converted the church for domestic use, reporting:
                ‘I heard the Grinding of Horse-teeth
                .... he has made the Nave of the Church
                a Stable for his Coach Mares,,
                and dug up the graves of the Dead’
 
We had lunch in Dunbar and afterwards, Eleanor and Rachel went for a walk along the Cliff Path. I picked them up and we headed for North Berwick. Along the way we had marvellous views of the Bass Rock. If you can see the second picture, what looks like white is actually the world’s largest  colony of Northern Gannets. You can see some of the gannets wheeling along the side of the cliffs.