When the
Church was first established in Lesmahagow and where it was
sited is not known, but there was a Culdee settlement of
Celtic monks here prior to the 12th Century and possibly as
early as the 8th. The Church was dedicated in the name of
St.Machutus (St.Malo) and this dedication was retained, when
in 1141, King David I granted “the Church and lands of
Lesmahagow” to the Tironensian Order of monks who had
already established an Abbey at Kelso, and it, in turn, had
churches for which it was responsible at, among other
places, Closeburn, Symington, Kilmaurs, Dunsyre and Carluke.
The history of the priory is not well documented. It seems,
however, that it had been granted the Right of Sanctuary by
the king. This was violated in 1335 when the Priory Church,
with many people who had taken refuge within it, was burned
down by troops under the command of John of Eltham, brother
of the English king Edward I.
A new Church was built and, so far is known, seems to have
survived right through the reformation period with
relatively little damage to become the Parish Church.
Following the Reformation, modifications and additions were
made from time to time. The Chapter House holds a model of
what the Church was like prior to it’s demolition in 1803.
The present Church was erected by the heritors in 1804 on
the original site. At that time, it was a typical
rectangular “preaching barn”, but in the 1860’s the apse was
added to give it it’s present “basilican” appearance. The
Chapter House was added in 1934. After serious damage by
fire in 1981, the apse was restored and the whole church
redecorated.
The Bell in the tower above the West Door, still rings every
Sunday, and bears a Latin inscription telling it was first
hung in 1625 and recast in 1792.
The Organ in the West Gallery was built by Brindley and
Foster and installed in 1889, and refurbished in 2007.
The names of the makers of
the stained-glass windows are not known. The centre panel
of the East Window, “The Descent from the Cross” is copied
from the centre panel of the triptych painted by Rubens for
an altar in Antwerp Cathedral in 1614. The side panels (not
from the Rubens’ original) depict, on the left, Moses and on
the right, Paul. Above is an “Ascension”. On the
north-east wall, the window shows Jesus praying in
Gethsemane, while the window on the south-east wall shows
the risen Christ with Thomas |
