The western tower (Fig. 305) has been appropriated as the burial-place of the Buchan family; so that it now forms no part of the church. It is entered by a fanciful Norman door in the west end. The windows in the tower are all modern, and so, we need hardly say, is the belfry. The upper part of the tower has been rebuilt at a late period, probably during the fifteenth century alteration. The south aisle probably dates from the seventeenth century, and was built by the Shairp family, whose mansion house of Houston is in the neighbourhood. It is now partly used as their burial aisle, and is a quaint structure, forming an agreeable contrast to the modern additions. The parish of Uphall was formerly called Strathbroc, and at this place, near the modern mansion of Kirkhill, and about one mile east from Uphall, stood the old parish church, dedicated to St. Nicholas, which was abandoned in the sixteenth century, when the Church of Uphall became the parish church. What kind of building it was before this does not appear to be known. The Rev. Mr. Primrose, who has devoted much attention to the antiquities of the locality, suggests that it was the chapel of some order of monks. [Illustration: FIG. 305.--Uphall Church. Western Tower and South Wing.] Of the Church of Strathbroc only two relics now remain. The one is the font (Fig. 306), of which the basin only is old. It was rescued from the adjoining farm steading, where it served a useful, if not dignified, purpose, and placed on its present base, and now stands in the Roman Catholic Church of Broxburn. It is octagonal in shape, and contains (Fig. 307) the letters M· and IHS·, repeated twice. Two of the faces bear the inscriptions STA/ECCLESIA· and NICOLAS·, and two faces are vacant. The other relic of St. Nicholas is the bell which now rings in the parish church of Uphall. It contains the inscription “Campanum Sancti Nicholai de Strathbroke, 1441.”[181] Mr. Primrose states that the bell was recast in 1503, and contains the Seton arms--Kirkhill at this period belonging to that family. [Illustration: FIG. 306.--Strathbroc Church. Font.] [Illustration: FIG. 307.] ABERCORN, LINLITHGOWSHIRE. The ancient church of Æbbercurnig, or Abercorn, lies in a sheltered spot amidst the fine woods surrounding the grounds of Hopetoun House, about three miles west from Queensferry. [Illustration: FIG. 308.--Abercorn Church. South Doorway.]