Earlston is generally called Ercheldune, Ercheldon, Erceldoun, Erchildon and Ersledun in medieval texts. A royal charter to the Abbey of Melrose in 1143/44 was signed at Earlston, and the church there was mentioned when Walter de Lyndesey granted it to the Abbey of Kelso, probably about 1160. This was opposed by the monks of Durham, who claimed that it was already theirs. They argued that the then chapel of Earlston had been given to Edrom, which had itself been given to the monks of Durham sometime between 1124 and 1138. Edrom came under the holdings of the Priory of Coldingham, which was a cell of Durham. John, abbot of Kelso, along with Lawrence, abbot of Melrose, acted as papal judges during the despute (1175 X 1178). Following this, Richard, bishop of St Andrews, confirmed to the monks of Durham their possession of Earlston's church (1172 X 1177), as did Pope Alexander III (1162 X 1181). In 1186, Pope Urban III listed Earlston, among other churches, as a possession of the church of Durham. Patrick I Earl of Dunbar confirmed the churches of Edrom, Earlston and other places to Durham in about 1189-98, and Bertram, prior of Durham (1189X1209 or 1213), granted a concession from the altarage of Earlston to the nephew of the Prior of Coldingham as vicar of Earlston. It may have been at this time that Earlston was given full parochial status with a perpetual vicarage. David de Bernham, bishop of St Andrews, dedicated/consecrated the church of Earlston in 1243, following papal orders about the consecration of churches. In the Bagimond Roll of the 1270s, Earlston was listed as 'Vicarius de Erceldoun'. Repairs, leading to some re-building, were undertaken on the chancel of the church in the 14th century. It remained annexed to the Priory of Coldingham until the Reformation.