Ayton Parish Church

There are charters of the late 11th and early 12th centuries granting the lands of Eiton, as Ayton was then known, to Coldingham Priory. The lands were granted by King Edgar of Scotland (ruled 1097–1107). By the end of the 12th century, the monks of Coldingham had built a chapel dedicated St. Dionysius. The church later received an altar dedicated to the Virgin Mary, with endowments of various acres and rigs in the Lordship of Ayton. The old chapel, which had been extensively altered and renewed over the years up to the 18th century was, originally, a simple rectangular building, but changed to a T shape with the addition of the north aisle. Many of the early Norman features were altered or…