12. Dollar Old Church and Graveyard

By the mid 1700s the existing church in Dollar was in a poor state of repair and it was decided to build a replacement. The new church was completed in 1775 at a cost of £115 plus £33 expenses and this is the little ruin that we see today. It could accommodate around 100 of a congregation and it was here that the Reverends John Watson and Andrew Mylne, both involved in setting up Dollar Academy, preached. It was considered to be ‘ very neat for a country church’.

The plate for the collection was placed on the ground at the gate leading down to Burnside and the congregation filed past it under the eagle eyes of the elders.

The collection taken on Sundays, along with interest from larger sums of money donated, was used to help the poor of the town, being paid to them monthly, each person getting around £17 each year.

According to the Rev. A. Mylne in 1845 the ‘morality’ of the people of Dollar was praiseworthy, though there were too many ‘aberrations on the part of young people’ and the behaviour at fairs and other gatherings annoyed the community.

 Although the number of communicants in the church was about 350, it was noted that many only attended for the yearly communion. On those occasions a tent was erected in the churchyard, and preaching was carried on in it and in the church at the same time. People went long distances to attend sacraments, and great gatherings were often to be seen around the tents.

The oldest part of the graveyard lies in the north-west corner around the old church, the oldest stone dating from the 17th century. Unfortunately the local sandstone wears badly unless regularly treated with linseed oil and many old gravestones have perished. The Rev. Andrew Mylne, the first superintendent of the Academy, is buried within the old church on the site of the pulpit while his predecessor, John Watson, lies outside.

By the 1840s it was realised that the church would have to be replaced and the present Parish Church was completed in 1843.