---
title: "Old Parish Church, Gretna Green"
description: "Located in Gretna Green, Dumfries & Galloway. Built 1797; altered 1909. simplified Gothic style."
category: "Church"
tags: ["Church","Church of Scotland","Dumfries & Galloway","Gretna Green","Category B","James Barbour"]
canonical: "https://thebritishgazette.com/post/old-parish-church-gretna-green"
pubDate: "2026-09-06T01:45:41.514Z"
dateModified: "2026-09-08T16:00:26.516Z"
location: "Gretna Green, Dumfries & Galloway"
country: "Scotland"
county: "Dumfries & Galloway"
town: "Gretna Green"
address: "Gretna Green, Dumfries & Galloway, DG16 5DU"
postcode: "DG16 5DU"
built: "1797; altered 1909"
architect: "James Barbour (1909)"
denomination: "Church of Scotland"
style: "simplified Gothic"
materials: "Sandstone; slated main roofs with red-tiled ridges, bell tower and caphouse"
website: "http://www.gretnaoldparishchurch.com/index.html"
openingHours: "Sorry, there are no regular opening times for this church."
parish: "Gretna Old, Gretna St Andrew's, Half Morton and Kirkpatrick Fleming"
gridReference: "NY 319 680"
accessNotes: "Level access to the main areas. Accessible toilets nearby"
---

# Old Parish Church, Gretna Green

Gretna Old Parish Church is a Category B listed Church of Scotland building at Gretna Green, Dumfries and Galloway, in a walled churchyard on the English border.

## Overview

Historic Environment Scotland records a datestone inscribed 1797 and 1909, though the south wall may be earlier. The parish church was deepened in the nineteenth century with a rebuilt south wall and a jamb, forming a T-plan. James Barbour much altered it in 1909 with simplified Gothic detailing: alterations to the jamb, a south side added with the main roof swept over, new fenestration, a north bell-tower central above the original projecting breast, and a west porch. Roofs are slated, with red tiles to the ridges, bell tower and caphouse. The interior, all by Barbour, has an open-timbered roof and aisle arcades on octagonal columns. The churchyard is enclosed by rubble walls linked to the west gable and holds eighteenth- to twentieth-century headstones.

Pococke’s 1760 tour noted a very ancient small Saxon church at Gretna Green. An 1825 lithograph in the vestry and an illustration in Dibdin’s Northern Tour (1838) show the building before Barbour’s work. The congregation is now linked as Gretna Old, Gretna St Andrew’s, Half Morton and Kirkpatrick Fleming; permission has been granted to sell the Old Church. Scottish listing is Category B (LB9959); the official designation is on the Historic Environment Scotland portal, not Historic England or Cadw.

## Further Information

- [Historic Environment Scotland LB9959](https://www.trove.scot/designation/LB9959)
- [Gretna Old Parish Church](http://www.gretnaoldparishchurch.com/index.html)