Historical Scottish Baptismal Site Discovered

The first branch of the Church in Scotland was established in Paisley. Early convert Andrew Sprowl was baptised there in May 1841. Two months later he was called as a missionary in the Paisley Branch. His journal is replete with baptisms and confirmations, many of them being his own relatives. He made this entry in his journal dated 24th March 1847:

“The place where we immerse in the water of baptism is only large enough to admit the administrator and the candidate. The spot where we immerse is only about two feet of a waterfall over which the water leaps into the place where we perform the baptisms. It is fairly secluded by trees all around a gently rising hill just above. In this place, the greatest number of the Saints have come into this branch and have been baptised here.

This place seems to be hallowed by the frequent baptisms that have been performed, joy and peace rests upon this place. The Spirit of the Lord is here when we come together to obey the voice of the Redeemer, Jesus of Nazareth the Son of God.

The name of this beautiful scenic place is the Meikleriggs Burn.”

This is the only known written description of this baptismal site. Between February and May 1840 the first eighty convert baptisms were performed here and it was continuously used up to at least 1847. I knew the burn, but Paisley has grown a great deal over the years and it seemed as if the burn was now underground.

Recently I started a more detailed search for the baptismal site. When researching to identify places I use the resources of the National Library of Scotland. They have a very detailed online collection of maps dating back to the earliest days of Scotland. The older maps can also be overlaid onto the more modern maps. I also used Google Earth and could see that the burn wasn’t underground at all. However, on a particular section no matter where we were standing we didn’t have a direct view of the burn due to tree foliage.

I asked my son, John, to try and get a photograph using a telephoto lens. He did all the legwork as I don’t climb fences anymore. As it turned out, the telescopic lens, though a canny idea, wouldn’t have worked. Mainly because it was behind a garden wall and a good deal lower than ground level, out of sight and too far around the corner. A week later John emailed me this photograph:

There was the “two feet of a waterfall” with “trees all around, a gently rising hill just above”. . . “the place where we immerse in the water. . .only large enough to admit the administrator and the candidate”. Just as Andrew Sprowl had described it.

It turned out to be in the garden of a private residence belonging to a very lovely and accommodating woman by the name of Carol. She was flabbergasted and delighted to hear about the 1840s baptisms, having always wondered about the waterfall’s origins. She told us that the bottom of her large garden, the waterfall part, was gifted to the Royal Burgh of Renfrewshire a long time ago by a previous landowner and as a result, she’s not allowed to alter or landscape in any way.

The waterfall is completely out of sight. It’s probably never been altered, having always been on private land. For members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Carol and her family have been the custodians of this sacred place, hidden and protected from the world.