Gala Aisle and Old Churchyard

Built in 1636 as the burial aisle of the Scotts of Gala, Gala Aisle is a rare physical survivor from the early parish centre of Galashiels and one of the town’s oldest standing structures.

Last reviewed: 15 July 2026

Quick Facts

Why It Matters

Gala Aisle is important because it makes the earliest parish history of Galashiels physically visible. The kirk beside it has disappeared, the later Old Parish Church has also been demolished, and the surrounding town has changed beyond recognition. Yet this small seventeenth-century structure still marks the place where worship, burial, local government, discipline and education were closely intertwined.

It also records the influence of the Scotts of Gala. Built as their family burial place, the aisle stood beside the parish kirk and was later connected to the laird’s loft. Its position expressed the family’s relationship with both the church and the developing settlement. The wider graveyard preserves the names of ministers, manufacturers, tradespeople and other residents who helped shape Galashiels before the creation of later cemeteries.

From Lindean to Galashiels

The parish centre was not always in Galashiels. National Records of Scotland describes the ancient parish as Lindean and records that its church was transferred to Galashiels in 1622. Other authoritative accounts date the building of the new kirk at the Old Churchyard to 1617. These dates are not necessarily contradictory: 1617 may refer to construction, while 1622 marks the formal change of parish location and name.

The move reflects the growing importance of Galashiels as a settlement. The new kirk stood close to Church Street and the early town centre. A study published by RCAHMS describes it as a rectangular building with lofts or galleries for the trades and the laird. Ordinary worshippers brought stools or benches. The kirk also served as the parish school until 1695, demonstrating how many aspects of community life could be concentrated in one building.

The Scott Family Burial Aisle

In 1636 Hugh Scott of Gala built the burial aisle close to, and at right angles to, the kirk. Trove’s archaeological record suggests that it was probably free-standing when first built. During the eighteenth century it was connected by a short passage to the laird’s loft in the church. The aisle therefore served both as a family burial place and as part of the ceremonial relationship between the laird and the parish congregation.

A carved stone above the entrance carries the date and the initials “H.S.I.P.”, interpreted in the RCAHMS study as Hugh Scott and Jean Pringle. Another sculptured stone, now badly weathered, was transferred from the old kirk. Its recorded inscription read: “Glorie to God in hevin, peace on earth and gud vil among men.” These fragments connect the surviving building directly with its lost neighbour.

Inside are memorials associated with the Scott family and the parish. Historic sources describe the monument to Captain Hugh Scott, who died in 1644, and a mural tablet commemorating the minister Mark Duncan. The condition, legibility and precise arrangement of individual memorials should be checked against a current internal survey before they are described in greater detail.

Architecture

The aisle is a small rectangular, gabled building. The RCAHMS survey gives external measurements of approximately 25 feet 10 inches by 19 feet, with walls about 2 feet 4 inches thick. Its modest scale is part of its character: this was a private burial aisle, not a complete church.

Historic Environment Scotland describes finely sized random rubble walling, irregular red-sandstone quoins and margins, stone skews and a steeply pitched roof. Pointed-arched windows with plate tracery occupy the gables. A semicircular-arched doorway with imposts opens on the west side. The moulded eaves course continues around the gables to form hoodmoulds over the windows, giving the simple structure a carefully finished architectural outline.

Not every visible part belongs to 1636. Trove records that much of the north gable and parts of the side walls retain original seventeenth-century work, while other areas result from nineteenth-century restoration. The south gable window is described by HES as a nineteenth-century replica of the original north window. The metal grilles, boarded door and restored roof contribute to the building’s present appearance.

The Lost Parish Kirk

By the early nineteenth century the adjoining kirk was considered dangerous, unhealthy and unfit for worship. It was demolished in 1813 as a replacement Old Parish Church was being built nearby. No standing trace of the seventeenth-century kirk survives, although its former position remains archaeologically and historically important.

The demolition left Gala Aisle standing alone. Accounts differ slightly over the exact nature and date of the changes that followed, but HES records a tradition that the aisle was extended by about six feet. Its south end and window were reconstructed, adapting a structure that had once related directly to the kirk into the independent building seen today.

Wood’s 1824 plan labels the structure simply as “The Aisle” and shows the churchyard after the removal of the old kirk. The map is valuable because it places this small survivor within the early street pattern, before later Victorian development transformed the surrounding area.

The Old Churchyard

The churchyard continued in use after the kirk disappeared. Its memorials create a record of the town before the rapid industrial growth of the later nineteenth century. Trove, drawing on the RCAHMS inventory, states that no surviving gravestone observed during the survey was earlier than 1697. The HES listing text is less precise and refers more generally to stones dating from the seventeenth century. Weathering, movement and reused stones make exact dating a matter for careful monument-by-monument study.

The surrounding fabric is part of the listed site. Coped rubble walls, decorative cast-iron gates, railings on the north retaining wall and stones incorporated into raised sections of the boundary all contribute to the churchyard’s character. These features help the site read as a historic enclosure rather than an isolated monument.

Body-Snatching and the Watch House

Like many Scottish burial grounds, the Old Churchyard became associated with fear of body-snatching during the early nineteenth century, when corpses could be sold for anatomical teaching. Local tradition says that residents organised armed patrols to protect new graves. More securely, the 1858 Ordnance Survey map marks a watch house at the south-west corner of the churchyard. The structure has gone, but its appearance on the map provides material evidence of the precautions taken around burial.

Ruin and Restoration

Gala Aisle did not reach the present day unchanged. HES records that its roof was removed in 1971, leaving it ruinous. An Ordnance Survey visit in 1977 found the walls surviving to their original height but the building roofless. In 1992 Ettrick and Lauderdale District Council carried out a restoration scheme that included re-roofing the aisle with stone slates.

That restoration is a significant part of the modern history of the site. Without intervention, prolonged exposure could have accelerated the loss of masonry, memorials and carved details. The restored roof again allows the aisle to be understood as an enclosed burial structure rather than merely a fragment of walling.

Things to Notice

• The compact rectangular form, which distinguishes the aisle from a complete church
• The contrast between dark rubble masonry and irregular red-sandstone dressings
• The semicircular west doorway and the carved stone bearing the 1636 date and initials
• The pointed gable windows and the nineteenth-century reconstruction of the south end
• The moulded eaves course continuing as hoodmoulds over the windows
• The relationship between the aisle, sloping churchyard, boundary walls and gates
• The variety of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century memorials recording generations of town life

Timeline

• Before 1622: The parish centre is at Lindean
• 1617: The new kirk at Galashiels is generally dated to this year
• 1622: The parish church is formally transferred from Lindean and the parish name changes to Galashiels
• 1636: Hugh Scott builds the family burial aisle
• 18th century: The aisle is connected to the laird’s loft in the kirk
• 1813: The old kirk is demolished; the aisle remains and is subsequently altered
• 1824: Wood’s plan records the surviving structure as “The Aisle”
• 1858: Ordnance Survey mapping shows a watch house in the churchyard
• 1971: The aisle roof is removed
• 1977: Ordnance Survey records the building as roofless but with walls at full height
• 1992: The aisle is restored and re-roofed with stone slates
• Today: The aisle and churchyard remain a key surviving link with early Galashiels

Significance Scores

These are editorial guide scores for public interpretation, not statutory designations. The scoring methodology explains how they are reached.

See the significance scoring methodology.

Notes and Uncertainties

• The 1617 and 1622 dates describe different aspects of the move from Lindean: construction of the Galashiels kirk and formal transfer or renaming of the parish. The distinction should be retained.
• The surviving aisle should not be described as the old parish church itself. It was a burial aisle beside that church and was later connected to it.
• Accounts differ over the exact extent of the alteration after the kirk’s demolition. HES records a tradition that the aisle was extended by approximately six feet.
• Trove’s RCAHMS-based account says that no churchyard stone earlier than 1697 was observed, while the HES listing refers more generally to seventeenth-century stones. Individual monument dates require direct inspection.
• The armed patrols against body-snatching belong to local historical tradition. The mapped watch house provides firmer evidence that protective measures were taken.
• The present condition and legibility of internal memorials should be confirmed by a current survey before more detailed claims are added.

Related Places

• Lindean Parish Church Site and Lindean Cottages
• Old Gala House
• Old Parish and St Paul’s Church, Scott Crescent
• Old Cloth Hall, 23 Scott Crescent
• Historic Maps

Sources

• Historic Environment Scotland, LB31971: Abbotsford Road, Aisle and Tombstones Including Graveyard, Boundary Walls and Gates
• Trove, Galashiels, Church Street, Gala Burial Aisle
• RCAHMS, Historic Galashiels: Archaeology and Development
• National Records of Scotland, CH2/1255: Records of Galashiels Old and St Paul’s Kirk Session
• Scotland Starts Here, Gala Aisle (used cautiously for visitor information and the local body-snatching tradition)
• RCAHMS, An Inventory of the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Roxburghshire (1956), as cited by Trove and HES.
• Walter Rutherford, History of the Parish of Galashiels (1930), as cited by Trove.

Image and Licence Notes

The principal image is by Kevin Rae and is reused under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 licence. Its caption links to the Wikimedia Commons file page, where the creator, source and licence terms can be checked.