kirk o' Shotts short video

The church is still operational and is a category B listed building. It can be seen from the nearby M8 motorway and is often illuminated at night. The graveyard contains stones from as early as 1624. The nearby Fortissat area contains the remains of the Fortissat Stone, a Covenanter gathering place. Shotts itself contains several Covenanter monuments as does nearby Harthill and Allanton.
Kirk O' Shotts, or the more affectionate title "The M8 Church" for its location on a hillock alongside the busy M8 motorway between Glasgow and Edinburgh, was formerly a Catholic place of worship under the name Saint Catherine's Chapel.
Close to 550 years ago Bothwell and Shotts formed one parish which stretched from the Clyde to Linlithgowshire, and from the North to the South Calder. In this large area there were four places of worship, one of which was situated in the middle Bothwellmuir at “a desert place called Bertram-Shotts”. Bertram de Shotts was reputed to be a giant who lived in the area and terrorised travellers on the Glasgow/Edinburgh road. A reward was offered for his capture - dead or alive - which was claimed by William Muirhead who lay in wait for Bertram when the latter came to his favourite drinking place, a spring of water on the hillside above Shottsburn. He hamstrung him and, as the giant lay laughing up at him, he cut off his head with the words, “Will ye laugh-up yet?”
It was on Bertram's plot of land that St. Catherine's Chapel was built in 1450. It was dedicated to “the blessed Virgin and Catherine of Sienna”.
Kate or St Catherine's Well
Many have wondered what connection St. Catherine could possibly have with the area. In 1457 the parish of Shotts was detached from Bothwell barony and the eastern half was given to Lord Hamilton, who re-founded and probably rededicated the chapel, also founding a hospital at the same place for the reception of the poor, which he endowed with some lands from Kinneal. His foundation was confirmed by a Bull of Pope Sixtus IV, on 30 April 1476 - St. Catherine's Feast Day. This may be the reason for the name.
After the Reformation of 1560,[3] Kirk o’Shotts became a Protestant place of worship. The old church of St Catherine's must have suffered many changes and required frequent changes since its foundation, but of these there is no account before 1640. In that year the Presbytery met at Shotts and ordered that the church be repaired and partly rebuilt, but it was more than eight years before the work was completed.
The site of the old church is marked by the headstone erected to Samuel Meuros, who was session clerk and school master from 1794 to 1837. He was also Precentor, and it was his wish to be buried where his old desk had stood. On the back of the stone is the following inscription:
“Here stood the Precentor’s desk in the Kirk of Bertram Shotts[4] which was rebuilt and extended in 1642” . This stone and the burial ground of the Inglis's of Murdoston, which was inside the old church, give a clear idea of the site.
The old church was a long, narrow building about 70 feet long, 25 feet wide, with 16 feet at the east end, designated the ‘quire’. The pulpit and desk stood on the south side, fronting the pulpit was the common loft, in the east end was Murdoston's loft, and at the west end was Gartness loft. In 1817, the old church having become unsafe and having a seating capacity for only 409 worshippers, it was decided that a larger church with a seating capacity for approximately 1,200 should be built.

[@sandradimascio84]

What a beautiful, so pleased it has been saved 🤞🙏

[@part3photography]

Hi Sandra, I think the Church of Scotland's general assembly will take a vote soon to see if this Kirk will remain or be sold off to another organisation? keep you eyes on the local press or the CoS's website. Thanks for taking the time to watch my video, It's appreciated 🙂

[@thetwatogs]

Cracking as usual. 👍👍👍

[@part3photography]

Cheers Oor Ian 🥰👍

[@stevemcpherson9017]

🌷 "Promosm"