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history |
Prior to the year 1248 the church of Eccles was dedicated to St Cuthbert, however in that year Bishop David de Bernham consecrated a new church, which was later rebuilt in 1774, and which held a dedication to St Andrew. The parish of Eccles was anciently divided into four sections, termed the Quarters of Eccles, all of which were connected with a church within the parish. St Andrew's quarter in the west was connected to the parish church, the north quarter with the chapel of St John, the east with the Chapel Knowe of Leitholm and the south with the chapel of St Magdalene. Eccles was also the site of a priory of Cistercian nuns, founded in 1156 and which later was burned down in 1545 and never restored. Ministry of the kirk session is recorded from 1567 in the person of Robert French. In 1959 Eccles formed a link with Leitholm however this arrangement was terminated in 1976 and during the same year an additional linkage was formed with Greenlaw, which in turn was also severed in 1985 in favour of a link with Coldstream. The kirk session sat within the Presbytery of Duns, later of Jedburgh and Kelso and then of Jedburgh, until the restructuring of the Presbyteries in 1976, when it became part of the Presbytery of Duns. |