Eccles, Scottish Borders

Eccles (Scottish Gaelic: An Eaglais. Brythonic/Welsh: Eglwys) is a village and agricultural parish near Kelso in Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. The village is conjoined with Birgham and Leitholm.

Like other 'Eccles'-names in Britain, this is taken to derive from the Brittonic word which survives in Welsh as eglwys 'church'. The word was originally borrowed into Brittonic from Latin ecclesia.

It is said that there was a Christian enclave at Eccles in the 6th century or possibly before. Watson gives the derivation as most likely from the Welsh (or Cumbric) eglwys meaning church and places with this name element are thought to indicate ancient Christian sites. Gospatric, Earl of Dunbar (or his wife) founded St. Mary's Cistercian convent at Eccles in 1156. It was burnt by the Earl of Hertford's forces in 1545, then laicised to the Home family. Only two barrel-vaulted cells of the east range at the west end of the churchyard survive as well as architectural fragments built into later garden walls, although the parish church, rebuilt in 1774, may include some mediaeval stones.Patrick I, Earl of Dunbar, who died on 31 December 1232, was interred in the convent at Eccles.

The principal landed proprietors in the vicinity of Eccles in 1696 appears to have been George Home of Kames (which is situated towards Birgham) who had 9 hearths, Purves Hall, then occupied by Marjory Flemming, had twelve hearths, and Simon Marjoribanks of Stainrig who had six. (Purveshall and Stainrig are closer to Leithholm than Eccles). In 1843 it was James Greig who resided at Eccles House, which abuts the village.

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