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On the outskirts of historic Haddington you'll stumble across a humble but truly rare survival: an original parish church from the 1100s.

Scotland has precious few parish churches surviving from the 1100s, the century that the parochial system itself was established. We know from the design of its windows that St Martin’s Kirk is one of them.

The leader of the Scottish Reformation, John Knox, may have attended services in St Martin’s as a boy. He was born on nearby Nungate around 1514.

The church’s chancel was destroyed during the Protestant Reformation in 1560, of which Knox was the primary architect. Today it stands on the edge of town as a fine Romanesque ruin.

A wide view of a roofless stone ruin standing in a field of tall golden grass.
An angled exterior view of an old stone church ruin surrounded by green grass, with houses visible behind it.

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