Kirkbride, previously Kilbride was an ancient parish close to the village of Enterkinfoot, the lands of which lay on both sides of the River Nith in the old Strathnith area of Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, about 5 miles south of Sanquhar and north of Closeburn. The parish was suppressed and divided between Durisdeer and Sanquhar parishes in 1732. The ruins of the kirk are a scheduled monument and the surrounding graveyard is a Category B listed building with the River Nith in the valley below. The Ha Cleuch Burn flows through the glen that lies to the east of the site with a lane reaching it that runs up from Enterkinfoot, ending at Coshogle Farm.
History
The church of Kirkbride, dedicated to St Bride, Brigit, Brigid or Bridget, is said to have been founded by St Mungo, along with St Conal's at Kirkconnel and was granted to the monks of Holyrood Abbey during the 13th century reign of Alexander II and had been within the Presbytery of Pont. Debate continues as to over whether St Bride was a true saint as the Celtic goddess Brigid has the same name, feast day and other links. In 1240 William, Bishop of Glasgow confirmed the grant. It became an independent rectory or parsonage and remained as such until the Reformation. Walter de Lillesclif was the parson at the time of Edward I and it is recorded that after he had sworn fealty to Edward I and the Sheriff of Dumfries restored him in that post with all its possessions. In the 16th century at the time of James V the church lay in the Deanery of Nith and was taxed at £6 13s 4d. The advowson or right as the feudal superiors to appoint the minister, lay with the Douglas family of Drumlanrig from the time of James VI until the parish was suppressed by the Lords Commissioners of Tiends in 1732.
The old kirk and churchyard
Kirkbride (NS854056) stands high up on to the south of Sanquhar, dedicated to St Bride and granted to Holyrood Abbey in the 13th century. The present day ruins at this site are of a rectangular church that was reportedly built in the early 16th century, traditionally orientated east to west with a small sacristy extending from the northern wall. It is said to have held no more than a hundred of a congregation and was only the second church in Scotland built after the Reformation although it replaces an older chapel. Some of the church structure has disappeared due to robbing for the buildings of the nearby Kirkbride Farm that was once also the site of a mill. The parish was suppressed and annexed to Sanquhar and Durisdeer in 1732 although some other references give the date as 1727.
Kilbride was the first parish in the South-West of Scotland to join the reformed faith and at first the use of the church was denied to the congregation who were forced to meet in the west corner of the churchyard around an ancient thorn tree. In the annual list of excommunications by the Pope at that time is listed the ancient Kirkbride thorn tree.
The south side of the kirk has the visible remains of an unusually narrow door and two windows, one near the altar and another in the western end of the nave. A substantial rectangular block of stonework lying inside represents the old belfry that was still in situ in 1912. In the wall at the intersection with the sacristy is a stone exhibiting carved interlace Celtic style decoration that may be part of an old cross. In 1912 an arch with a chamfered edge lay between the sacristy and the nave. The fragments of a statue of an ecclesiastic referred to as "Gabrialdus" is recorded as being visible amongst the stones of the ruin in 1912. The narrow entrance door is unusual and had a pointed arch made of two stones that stood in 1920 but has now fallen. In the north-east angle of the church in 1920 a fragment of a tombstone was recorded bearing the inscription "Orate Propiciet" in Gothic lettering, translating as "Pray for the soul".
It is recorded that an ex-provost of Sanquhar, Abraham Crichton, had the old kirk partly un-roofed in the 1740s as he regarded the congregation as being largely Whigs and therefore with Covenanter and Hanoverian sympathies whilst he was probably a Tory and a Jacobite. He had stated that he would "Sune ding doon the Whig's sanctuary" however work ceased when a terrible storm arose and he died shortly after from a fall from his horse. The old congregation had been petitioning for services to be resumed and they took Abraham's death as a punishment by God for his role in the suppression of the old parish and his act of sacrilege against the building.
The church is very similar to the early 16th century church at Little Dalton.