REPOETS OF MEETINGS FOR 1911 259 



"The Church of Lilliesleaf now in use dates from 1771, before 

 which period an older building, thatched with broom, occupied a 



site in the middle of the graveyard. Its history 

 Church of can be traced to 1430. The oldest Church, 

 Lilliesleaf. on the same site, was built in 1110. The 



present building, before 1883, was oblong, with 

 a gallery at either end, and a high pulpit between the two doors, 

 which were on the South side, and have since been converted into 

 windows. The entire cost of erecting it was £200, and even 

 when allowance is made for the low rate of wages then 

 prevailing, it is evident that little margin was left for 

 ornamentation. The mason work, which cost only £90, was 

 exceedingly well done ; and when last year a portion of it 

 was taken down, it proved to be of eminently solid construction. 

 The former incumbent. Rev. Robert Blackstock, on his transla- 

 tion from Ladhope in 1881, at once set about a scheme of 

 renovation, despite the foreboding of one of the villagers, who 

 declared it would take seven hundred years to raise the sum 

 of £700 which was contemplated. Events proved, however, 

 that he had a too cynical regard for his neighbours' generosity ; 

 for, without any assessment on the Heritors, the money was 

 collected in a couple of years, and the Church was re-opened, 

 free of debt, in 1883. This scheme included the removal of 

 the galleries, and a large addition on the North side, while 

 the pews were re-arranged on a gentle slope, which, if not in 

 strict accord with ecclesiastical usage, has the merit of afford- 

 ing an increased measure of comfort. At the same time a 

 square tower was added, in which a handsome bell, the gift 

 of the late Mr. Edward Sprot of Drygrange, and heard for 

 several miles around, was hung. In 1910, the Heritors resolved 

 to repair the roof of the older part of the building, an oppor- 

 tunity of which it seemed good to myself to take advantage. I 

 offered to present an apse of Norman design, with triple arch, 

 which was accepted by them. Under the able direction of 

 Mr James P. Alison, F.R.I.B.A., Hawick, the work was 

 carried out, the result of which is the beautiful structure 

 in which we are assembled. A new pulpit was presented by 

 the descendants of Rev. William Campbell, minister of the 

 parish from 1760 to 1804, and a Communion Table also by 

 II 



