Ervie-Kirkcolm Church“He said to them ‘Go throughout the whole world and preach the Gospel to all peoples'”
Mark 16:15
History
Christianity in Kirkcolm Parish
Dumfries and Galloway has been described as the cradle of Scottish Christianity. Certainly there are records of early saints crossing from Ireland and preaching on the shores of Galloway from the 6th Century AD.
These early Christian missionaries would often set up their homes by freshwater springs venerated by the local people, and gradually chapels grew up on some of these sites next to the ‘Holy Wells’. The name Kirkcolm itself means either the Church of Columba or the Church of Cuilím (Columba’s successor on Iona). There are no less than three wells in the parish designated as ‘St. Columba’s Well’ – one on the north coast near Corsewall Lighthouse, one adjacent to the Old Kirkcolm Churchyard on the Corsewall Estate, and one on the shore springing out from cliffs north of Kirkcolm Beach.
Other wells also had small neighbouring chapels, such as St. Brigid’s, now the hamlet of Kirkbryde, and St. Mary’s, also known as Kilmorie Church (see map).
Key
- St Columba’s Well (N)
- St Brigid’s Well and Chapel
- St Columba’s Well (E)
- St Columba’s Well (S), Old Kirkcolm Church and graveyard
- Kirkcolm Church
- Ervie Manse and Church (formerly Kirkcolm United Free Church)
- St Mary’s Well and Kilmorie Chapel
- Former Leswalt United Free Church
- Leswalt Church
“Then I heard the Lord say ‘Whom shall I send? Who will be our messenger?’ I answered ‘I will go! Send me!'”
Isaiah 6:8
A mausoleum in the old parish churchyard, Corsewall estate.
Kirkcolm Old Parish Church was demolished in 1821, and the current church building in Kirkcolm village was completed in 1823.
Ervie Church was formed in 1929 from the joining of Kirkcolm and Leswalt United Free Churches. It was situated next to the old Manse on land gifted from the Agnew Estate, but was demolished in 1970. Stained glass from the church was kept and turned into a cross, now inside Kirkcolm Church.
The Ervie congregation had meanwhile joined with Kirkcolm Church in 1950, and further ties were established when the Parish Church of Leswalt became linked to Ervie-Kirkcolm in 1985, to share the costs and services of a minister.
Both Leswalt and Ervie-Kirkcolm Churches continue to have weekly Sunday services and provide a strong Christian witness in the communities they serve.
