The story of St Mary’s church
It is not uncommon for a village the size of Pathhead to have just one church but it is unusual for that church to be a Roman Catholic one. St. Mary’s story tells us much about change and discrimination in 19th century Scotland.
St. Mary’s was founded by Cecil Chetwynd Kerr, the Dowager Marchioness of Lothian. She was a remarkable woman who had converted to Catholicism in 1851 after a long and at times painful journey of faith. She had been influenced by the Oxford Movement’s push to restore pre Reformation liturgy and worship in the Church of England and by her spiritual advisor, John Henry – later Cardinal – Newman.
Although the penal laws against ‘popery’ in Scotland had been repealed so Catholics could own property and build churches, Cecil’s conversion meant making sacrifices. She was seen as a considerable risk to her own children (all except her two eldest sons later converted), was forced to move out of the family home and became estranged from her friends.
Lady Cecil had lived most of her married life at Newbattle Abbey, which was originally a Cicercian monastery. By founding St. Mary’s and other churches, most notably St. David’s Dalkeith, she hoped to make amends for the confiscation of Catholic churches and religious houses during the Reformation.
Cecil was also moved by the needs of a scattered Irish Catholic population who had arrived in Midlothian following the Great Famine in Ireland. These people were discriminated against, very poor and living insecurely – mostly as farm labourers around Pathhead, Penicuik, Roslin, Loanhead, Gorebridge and Bonnyrigg. The area was served by ‘mission priests’ who moved about, often preaching outdoors and saying Mass in hired rooms. In time Pathhead gained a tiny school that was used as a chapel and vestry.
Lady Cecil aimed to expand the mission effort in Pathhead and her funding allowed a simple church to be built, dedicated to Our Lady. St. Mary’s was opened on the 2nd of June 1872. Cecil continued to follow the community’s progress, making small gifts to the church.
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