Early Years
The date when the church was built is unknown, and early references to it are scanty, as it was evidently included under the mother-church of Dunbar - itself a survivor of the administrative system which preceded the reorganisation under Norman and Roman influence. Possibly, Spott began as a little chapel-of- rest for either those on the ‘Herring Trail’, or the many thousands of pilgrims on their way to Iona, or the Holy Land, to drink at St. John’s Well - a holy well about 200 yards north-west of the church.  The title ‘St John’ may be linked to the Templar Order which was known to have owned lands in Dunbar, and Spott, and whose Knights may have arrived with Edward I’s army at the 1296 Battle of Dunbar, which was fought in, and around, Spott. The well was also, at one time, tapped by Dunbar Town Council to provide fresh water, and subsequently they had to build a ‘compensation pond’ and water house.

When Dunbar Church was made collegiate in 1342, Spott was listed as one of its seven “chapelries”.  This arrangement appears to have lasted until 1501, when a Papal Bull of Pope Alexander VI transferred these subsidiary churches to the newly collegiate Chapel Royal at Stirling. Spott was later raised to the status of “Parish Church”.

The Church
The current church could have been built upon an old Saxon medieval site. Naturally, the fabric of the church has changed significantly over the years. The original old ‘chapelry’ is the east-west construction, dominated by the oaken pulpit, which is a fine example of Jacobean woodcarving. The extension to the north was added post-Reformation during the reign of Charles II, to seat the increased congregation.

The ‘Box Pews’ are again a unique feature. At the west end would have been ‘the Laird’s Pew’ and every second pew would have had a folding extension to form a Communion Table.

At the main door are a set of cruel iron ‘jougs’ (iron collar), which represent a period of oppressive, if well-intentioned ecclesiastical rule. They were fastened to the neck of “ecclesiastical miscreants”, for the period of the Service. This is also at a time (according to the church records in 1705), when “many witches were burnt at Spott Loan”. The last witch to be burnt at Spott was Marion Lille in 1698 - a “Witches Stone” to the east of the village, marks the site.

Spott Church Bell
Spott’s bell was cast in 1639 by the Dutch bell foundry of Michael Burgerhuys in Middleburg, in the Netherlands. This foundry provided was principally built to produce canons, but also produced church bells and many of the bells were produced for Scottish churches in the 17th century.  It was cast (we think) in memory of Sir Robert Douglas of Spott, who died in 1639 and whose name is inscribed on the bell. Sir Robert was a Privy Councillor both to the Court of James I and to his son, Charles I, by whom he was knighted. He later became Viscount Belhaven.  He is buried in Holyrood Abbey, Edinburgh.

The Vestry and War Memorial
This stone building at main gate, which is now a Vestry, was likely built as a ‘watch-house’, to keep an eye on the ‘Resurrectionists’ (bodysnatchers) of that time! The fine War Memorial to those killed in World War I was erected in 1920. It was designed by the famous architect, Sir Robert Lorimer. Inscribed are the fallen of World War I, with World War II fallen being added after that conflict.

The Graveyard
The graveyard’s surviving stones date from the early 17th century.  It is believed that there are remains of soldiers from the Battle of Dunbar in1650, also interred here. Oliver Cromwell, who spent the night after the battle at Spott House, is known to have traditionally required his slain to be buried in the nearest consecrated ground, and Spott would have met that criteria.    

The Ministers
Nothing is known of the early clerics at Spott. They were possibly little more than retainers at Spott House and earning a living by placing their ‘learning’ and ‘clerking’ at the Laird’s disposal. The first record is of Sir James Kincraigy being “presented to the Chaplaincy of the Parsonage of Spott” on 16th April 1499, following the death of his predecessor, Sir Hew Hudson.  These, and others among the succeeding clergymen, remain only shadowy figures. However, among them, a number stand out:

Sir James Kincraigy’s successor, Andrew Aiton, or Aytoun, Chancellor of the Cathedral of Dunblane and Rector of Spott was, in 1520, elected Procurator of the Scottish Nation in the University of Orleans, France. This was the leading French civil law school at the time. He died in Rome on 12th October 1528 and was buried in the English College there.

He was followed in Spott by Robert Galbraith, a writer of several well-known books. He was a graduate of Paris, and one the original Senators of the College of Justice (judges of the High court and Court of Session).  He was murdered in Edinburgh in March 1544.
His successor, James Hamilton, an illegitimate son of the Duke of Chatelherault, resigned the rectory in 1547, when he became Bishop of Glasgow.

John Hamilton, son of the first Earl of Arran, was the parson at Spott in 1559. He later became the last Roman Catholic Archbishop of St Andrews. He was a staunch supporter of Mary Queen of Scots and had the misfortune to be taken prisoner at Dumbarton Castle in 1571 and shortly afterwards, hanged at the Market Cross in Stirling for complicity in the murder of ‘The Good Regent Murray’ and of Mary’s husband Darnley, as well as conspiring against King James VI.    

The first Protestant minister at Spott, and the most notorious, was John Kello, son of the Clerk of St. Andrews Diocese. In 1570, he strangled his wife in Spott Manse, before proceeding to the morning service and preaching what was recorded as a “well-received” sermon in the church. For his crime, he was hanged at the Gallow Lee in Leith Walk, Edinburgh, on 4th October 1570.
Andrew Wood, the minister from 1643 to 1646, later became the Bishop of the Isles, and then of Ross.

Despite the traumas of the early years, Spott has also had its measure of stability, and in the last 120 years, there have only been four Ministers for the Parish.