About
Cross Kirk stands in a quiet walled green ringed by tall Scots pines close to the centre of Peebles, the best-preserved urban friary in Scotland. On 9 May 1241 a fine cross was found here, followed by a stone urn holding what some believed were the remains of St Nicholas, and miracles were soon reported. Alexander III paid for a church to house the cross and the shrine, and it remained a place of pilgrimage until the early 1600s. In 1474 it became a house of Trinitarian friars, who probably added the cloister and west tower, and the English burned it in 1549. Its finest surviving feature is the western doorway of the 1200s, and excavations in 1924 found a stone cist under the shrine holding fragments of bone. The church was abandoned and unroofed in 1784, leaving tall gables and the west tower. It is open daily and locked in the evenings, with barriers round the tower for safety; park in the town.
ClosedPick a day for times and prices
- Until 31 Mar
- Daily 10:00–16:00
- From 1 Apr
- Daily 09:30–17:30
Today, Saturday 24 October
- Cross Kirk, Peebles10:00 – 16:00
Free entry
Opening times may change at short notice.
1 April to 30 September daily 9.30am to 5.30pm; 1 October to 31 March daily 10am to 4pm; reviewers note the site is locked in the evenings. Historic Scotland, 20 October 2026: 'For visitor safety, there are currently barriers around the church tower. The rest of the site is open and is free to visit.'
The ruins stand in a walled green ringed by Scots pines, with stone outlines in the grass marking lost walls and a welcome board at the gate; little other signage. No toilets on site; the town centre is close by.
Photo: The ruined gable with its tall pointed window and the west tower of Cross Kirk, Peebles, among Scots pines, with low foundations in the grass. Anthony O'Neil, CC BY-SA 2.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cross_Kirk_(2)_-_geograph.org.uk_-_7464759.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.
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