Broughton Church, Tweeddale

Broughton in Tweeddale in the Scottish Borders possesses a charming set of ruins that were once a church. A place of worship has occupied the site since at least the twelfth century, to which I fancied these ruins belonged. Yet it transpires that the church was rebuilt in 1726 only to be abandoned in 1803. These ancient ruins are not as old as might first be expected, though some of the stones were probably re-conscripted into the Georgian structure (or Jacobite, judging by the district’s sympathies).

Do not mistake infirmity and weariness for being dying and dead. There are old folk in care homes who shall spring to life at the sound of the archangel’s trumpet, while many who are young and virile are already dead in their trespasses and sins.

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 1 Corinthians 15:52

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