History of New Abbey

There has been Christian worship in this area for almost one thousand years. The early church in New Abbey parish was on an island in Loch Kindar and in 1273 Sweetheart Abbey was founded by Lady Devorgilla in memory of her husband, John Baliol.

By the mid-16th century, the parish church was meeting in the old refectory of Sweetheart Abbey and Patrick Coul became the first Reader. In 1731 a new parish church was built against the ruined wall of the Abbey on the edge of what had been the Cloister Green. This church was dismantled in 1877 when the present New Abbey Church was built. In 1930 New Abbey United Free Church joined with the Parish Church and members in the Beeswing area joined Lochend Church.

New Abbey and Lochend churches were linked in 1952, and in 2006 they formed a union known as Lochend and New Abbey Church. The church at Beeswing was closed and subsequently sold but services of worship continued to be held in Beeswing Memorial Hall. The minister continued to travel between the two settlements to hold a service each Sunday morning.

To facilitate a linkage with Kirkgunzeon parish church, regular services in Beeswing were discontinued in 2009, a condition of the linkage being that an occasional service would be held in Beeswing instead of New Abbey. The linkage was short lived and as part of a Presbytery plan Kirkgunzeon church was closed in 2013 and the parish of Kirkgunzeon became part of Dalbeattie and Haugh of Urr church. Also as part of this plan, Lochend and New Abbey were permitted to call a part-time minister and appointed Rev Maureen Duncan in 2014. She retired in 2018.

Because of a shortage of ministers and declining membership the Church of Scotland introduced a ‘Radical Plan’ to reduce the number of presbyteries and parishes. The Presbytery of Dumfries and Kirkcudbright became part of a larger grouping – the Presbytery of the South West – and Lochend and New Abbey church was united with Maxwelltown West church in Dumfries to become Maxwelltown West with New Abbey.

From 1st January 2025 the minister of Maxwelltown West, Rev Johannes Wildner, became the minister at New Abbey. Services of worship continue in both Maxwelltown West and New Abbey churches each Sunday with the occasional service in Beeswing Memorial Hall.