257 February 2016 - Gryffe Advertizer

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LOCAL
history
The Barony of Auchinames
For over four hundred years the long-forgotten Barony of Auchinames,
on the west of Kilbarchan village, was the property of the Crawfurds of
Auchinames. Reginald Crawfurd was granted the Barony by Robert the
Bruce in 1320 for his services at the Battle of Bannockburn. It remained in
the possession of the Crawfurds until the middle of the eighteenth century
when Patrick Crawfurd, the 16th baron, sold the estate off in lots. The
Crawfurd’s Castle of Auchinames was demolished, but the remains of their
chapel, dedicated to St. Catherine, and an old knight’s gravestone can still
be seen in the old Parish Churchyard.
St.Catherine’s Chapel was built early in the 15th century by Thomas de
Crawfurd, 3rd Baron of Auchinames. The function of this chapel was the
salvation of his soul and the souls of his predecessors and successors. The
patronage was vested in himself and his heirs. By the Foundation Charter of
Next SOPS Presentation: 6 Legal MUST-DOs for older people
Tuesday 16 February
Carrick Centre, Houston from 7.00-8.15pm
A FREE 45 minute talk everyone over 50 should attend,
discussing Wills, Power of Attorney & Advance Directive.
Landlords Workshops - coming soon!
These workshops are aimed at Landlords to include information/advice on
setting up a residential tenancy; landlords obligations; legislation – costs &
implications; repairs & taxation; management issues and controls.
Also, advertising; management and documentation preparation; tenant
credit referencing; lease preparation; regular property inspections;
Bespoke letting and marketing recommendations for properties.
Contact our office to book your place at our next events!
1401, Crawfurd gave the rental of
some of his lands for maintenance
of a chaplain ministering in the
chapel, which was about to be
built; or ministering to the altar of
the Holy Virgin Mary in the Church
of Kilbarchan. The charter was ratified by King Robert III and St Catherine’s
Chapel was built soon after.
At the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the Crawfurds lost the
chapel lands which were given over by charter ‘in feu’ to laymen. Mary
Queen of Scots confirmed this by charter in 1565 and she ‘dispensed
with the statues’. However, some years later, William Crawfurd, 9th Baron
of Auchinames (1547-82), regained the endowments of St Catherine’s
Chapel, and James Chalmers, a zealous Protestant, was the appointed
patron. The chapel was still upstanding in 1696 when Archibald Crawfurd,
9th Baron of Auchinames included ‘the chappell of Saint Katharine, situat
within the church yeard of Killbarquhane’ in the property he wished to leave
to his heirs.
The chapel was shown as a ruin in the 1st ed. OS Map of 1856. The
accompanying O S Name Book states that the walls of the chapel stood
about 4ft high. The walls had been faced with dressed stone, and an iron
railing placed on top, the enclosure being in use as a private burial ground.
The iron railing has since been removed. The lower walls of the chapel still
stand in the churchyard today as an enclosure where subsequent owners
of former Auchinames lands were buried.
An old medieval gravestone of a knight, irreverently used as building
material, can be seen in the
churchyard wall on the left of the
entrance pillars in Church Street.
The gravestone appears to show
the spots of ermine of the Crawfurd
coat-of-arms and is almost certainly
from the burial place of an early
Baron of Auchinames.
Renfrewshire Local History Forum’s next Archaeology Lecture, Waterloo
Uncovered: The Archaeology of Europe’s most Famous Battle takes place
in the Shaw Gallery, Paisley Museum at 7.30.on 11th February. Our speaker
on the night is Tony Pollard, Director, Centre of Battlefield Archaeology,
Glasgow University. Visitors are always welcome at our lecture meetings.
© 2016 Helen Calcluth
Kingsley Wood & Co, Solicitors & Notaries, Burnside Chambers, Kilmacolm PA13 4ET
Tel: 01505 874114 Email: mail@kingsleywood.co.uk Web: www.kingsleywood.co.uk