Undiscovered Scotland

 

St James’s Roman Catholic Church is an attractive grey stone church standing on the corner between Innerleithen’s High Street and Traquair Road.

The church came about through the efforts – and the money – of Lady Louisa Stuart, who was the sister of the last Earl of Traquair and a friend of Sir Walter Scott and a lady, it is said, of formidable personality.

Lady Louisa died in December 1870 in her 100th year. The endowment fund she left paid for a school and a house for the teacher and then, in November 1879, for work to begin on the church and presbytery. (Continues below images...)

 

Edinburgh architect John Biggar was responsible for the design and the builder was local man, Robert Mathison. The buildings were constructed of whinstone and fittings were made of pitched pine. The church that emerged could originally accommodate 300 people.

What you find inside is a beautiful and beautifully contemplative space. The stations of the cross adorn the side walls of the nave. The lectern and altar were the work of another local man, Franz Flabane. Other furniture, fittings and adornments have come together from a range of sources over the years.