A general description of the features which distinguish this style of
architecture has been given in the Introduction,[147] together with a
short summary of the Scottish structures in the Norman style.[148] The
more minute features will be referred to in the descriptions of the
various churches. It may, however, be pointed out that few structures
survive in Scotland which exhibit elevations of façades, such as the
east and west fronts of churches, or the north and south façades of
transepts, which show the true Norman character. In all Norman churches
of any importance in other countries the façades forming the end
elevations in the above positions are composed of several stories, piled
up one above the other. (See Fig. 17.) In the later styles, the design
of the façade is generally composed of one predominating feature, such
as a large traceried window, or a series of lofty lancets (like the Five
Sisters of York), rising above a single lower story, which generally
contains a doorway. But in Norman architecture the façades are usually
divided up into a series of stories, one over the other—an arrangement
which, to a certain extent, fails to give the impression of one large
structure, such as is conveyed in the façades of the later Gothic
styles.
In Scotland proper there is only one building of magnitude in which this
storied style is preserved—viz., the Abbey Church of Kelso. The same
features may, however, be still observed in the façades of the transepts
of Kirkwall Cathedral, Orkney. At St. Andrews Cathedral the original
storied Norman east end was subsequently altered. In other large Norman
churches, such as Dunfermline Abbey, the façades have been removed or
altered. The smaller churches in the Norman style are not of sufficient
height to give expression to this peculiarity.
It has been shown in the preceding chapter that some of our early Celtic
structures were transitional, and contained some signs of the approach
of the Norman style; but after its introduction, in the twelfth century,
that style at once became universal in the civilised parts of the
country, and all the churches of that date of which any portions survive
were erected in accordance with the Norman fashion. It has been often
remarked that the twelfth century was the great church-building epoch in
Scotland, as elsewhere, and the number of these Norman edifices still
traceable in the south and east of the country is very large.
The parish churches are generally small and aisleless, most of them
being single oblong chambers, with an eastern chancel, sometimes with an
eastern apse, and occasionally there was a western tower. St. Nicholas’,
Aberdeen, was cruciform, and had a central tower.
During the Norman period monasticism prevailed, and almost all the large
churches were conventual. These churches were always designed on the
cruciform plan, and contained choir, nave, and north and south transept,
each portion having side aisles, and the transepts usually only an
eastern aisle. The small churches and side aisles were frequently
vaulted, but the large churches appear to have been designed for wooden
roofs.
The details and ornaments of the style are often very elaborate, and
invariably correspond with those in use in England at, or rather earlier
than, the corresponding period. In the early examples, the design was
very simple, and ornament was sparingly used; but as time advanced the
style was gradually enriched, until towards the close of the period the
ornament became very elaborate, especially in the arched heads of
doorways, as at Kelso, Jedburgh, and Dunfermline.
A common feature in Norman buildings was an arcade running round the
walls below the windows. Almost every Norman structure of importance in
Scotland contains this arcade, either in the interior or exterior, or
both, and the caps and arches are generally elaborately and richly
carved with ornaments. Here, and generally throughout Norman structures,
the chevron or zig-zag enrichment is a characteristic feature. The other
enrichments of the period in other countries consist of the billet, the
bird’s beak, faceted sinkings, grotesque heads, rosettes, &c., all of
which are found in the Scottish examples. The doorways are generally the
points where the carving is richest, and it naturally followed that the
doorways are often preserved where the other parts of the buildings are
altered or rebuilt. The windows are always single, and simple in
details.
Some of the towers above enumerated are amongst the earliest examples of
Norman work which survive. They contain some reminiscences of the early
defensive purpose of such structures. They are extremely simple in
design, being square on plan, and carried up, without break or buttress,
to the parapet, where they were finished with a gabled roof, forming the
saddleback arrangement still preserved in the tower at Muthill.
The only break in the height is formed by string courses, which mark the
unequal stories. A small wheel stair usually leads to the top. The
doorway in some instances is placed several feet above the ground.
Amongst these towers are to be found most of the small fragments which
still survive of the extensive building works encouraged by David I. in
the first half of the twelfth century.
In the following descriptions the churches are arranged, as far as
possible, in the order of their probable dates, commencing with the
oldest and simplest, and continuing with the later and more elaborate
examples.
The Church and Churchyard of Markinch stand on the top of a small hill,
round the base of which lie the houses of the town. The church and its
Norman tower are thus conspicuous objects as seen from the railway in
approaching from Kirkcaldy, which is about seven miles distant to the
southward. The inch, or island, is believed to have derived its name
from having been formerly surrounded by a marsh.
Fig. 159.—Markinch Church Tower. Plans and Details.
A church was consecrated here in 1243, and dedicated to Saints John
Baptist and Modrest. There was at one time a Culdee cell in this
locality, but afterwards the church belonged to the Priory of St.
Andrews.
The only part of the original structure which survives is the tower,
which is undoubtedly an ancient Norman building.
It is nearly square on plan (Fig. 159), being 16 feet from north to
south by 17 feet from east to west. The tower rises (Fig. 160) without a
break (except a string course at each floor) to the height of four
stories,
Fig. 160.—Markinch Tower. From South-West.
or 73 feet to the top of the parapet. The original entrance (Fig. 161)
is by a door, two feet wide, at the north-west angle. The sill is now
about two feet above the ground, but it doubtless stood several feet
higher originally. From the doorway a wheel stair leads to the upper
floors. The stair and upper floors were lighted by small windows, with
round heads. These are now built up, except one in the south side, which
has been changed into a trefoil head. The top story is lighted by a
window in each face. Each of these windows (see Fig. 159.) consists of
two openings, divided by a central shaft. On the exterior each opening
is arched, with a small semi-circular arch, cut out of one stone; but in
the interior both openings are spanned by one arch. The arrangement of
the shafts is peculiar, the central shaft being placed so as to be in
the centre of the abacus which carries the small arches, while the side
shafts are wrought upon the angles of the jambs, and do not stand in the
same plane as the central shaft. The caps are Norman, of the usual
cushion form, with heavy abacus; but they and the bases are now much
decayed.
The original mode of finishing the tower is now matter of conjecture,
but it was doubtless (as stated by Mr. Muir) finished with a saddleback
or gabled roof. It is now terminated with a modern cornice, above which
a heavy modern spire has been erected, the top story being domed in
order to carry the spire.
Fig. 161.—Markinch Tower. From North-East.
The top story is slightly diminished in size, and is set back over the
string course. The lower string courses are of three-sided section, and
have been carved with the ordinary Norman enrichment of the lozenge
(see Fig. 161.). These are now nearly wasted away. The church attached to
the tower is entirely modern, and a modern doorway of entrance has been
cut through the tower.
The parish of Muthill lies about three miles south of Crieff. The
ancient church, with its venerable tower, remained entire and in use as
the parish church till about the year 1818, when, unfortunately, it was
abandoned for a new building erected about that time. We are enabled to
give a view[149] of the old church (Fig. 162), made by John Claude
Nattes about the year 1799, from which it will be seen how eminently
picturesque the old structure was, and how deplorable is the ruin which
has overtaken it in the last half-century.[150]
The church (Fig. 163) consisted of the ancient square tower at the west
end, with a nave having north and south aisles, and an aisleless choir.
The tower is one of the best preserved of the Norman towers in Scotland.
It is nearly square on plan, and measures about 15 feet 3 inches on each
side, with walls about 3 feet 2 inches thick. It has two offsets (Fig.
164) on the outside of the two upper stories, and a string course above
the lower stage. This string course is of the usual Norman section, and
is ornamented with the lozenge pattern, except on the east face, where
it is plain. The walls are built plumb inside, with neither corbels nor
projecting courses to carry floors. The tower is about 51 feet 3 inches
high from the ground to the eaves, and about 16 feet 6 inches more to
the apex of the gables. The latter, with their crow-steps, doubtless
belong to a late period; but they probably represent the original mode
of termination of the tower. The roof must be at least some centuries
old. It is constructed with timbers about seven inches square, in the
manner shown on section (Fig. 165); they are fixed together with wooden
pins. With slight repairs and attention, which it greatly
Fig. 162.—Muthill Church. From South-East. (From Sketch
by Nattes, about 1799.)
requires, the roof would last for generations to come. We may remark
that several cracks in the masonry, which were very conspicuous when we
sketched the tower about fifteen years ago, have now been filled up.
The belfry stage has an opening in each face. Those on the west and
north sides (see Fig. 164.) consist of large arches, each containing two
smaller ones. They are alike, and measure about 3 feet 5 inches wide on
the inside by about 5 feet 10 inches high to top of large arch, and
about 4 feet 2 inches of daylight. They are divided with a central
octagonal shaft, with round responds set well back in the wall. The
shafts have all cushion capitals, those of the responds being slightly
higher than those of the central shafts. The arches springing from these
caps are very rudely formed. Each of these two windows is wider at the
springing of the arch
Fig. 163.—Muthill Church. Plan.
than at the base by about 2½ inches, and the responds taper even more.
The latter have no bases, while the centre shafts have only the merest
fillet. The south window (Fig. 166) has a square lintel. It is about 3
feet 8½ inches wide by 4 feet 1½ inch high, and has no taper. The
opening is divided by a mullion, placed flush with the outer face of the
wall. The east window is a single light, about 1 foot 7 inches wide
inside, increasing by 2 inches to the outside. It is 3 feet 11 inches
high, and is 2 inches wider at the lintel than at the base. We have
minutely described these windows, as they are peculiar in their
differences, and are undoubtedly original. We know of no reason why the
north and west ones should be so much more ornamental than the other
two.
This tower appears to have stood quite isolated, like that of Dunblane
Cathedral. There is nothing to indicate that it was attached to any
building. There are no roof ragglets, but only the faintest mark caused
by the pointing where the roof of the present ruin joined the walls.
What position the tower occupied in regard to the early church, which
Fig. 164.—Muthill Church. View of Tower from
North-West.
doubtless stood here, cannot now be ascertained. There seems to have
been a doorway on the west face of the ground floor (see Fig. 164.),
about 4 feet wide, formed with a flat arch about 7 feet 6 inches above
the present level of the ground; but it is doubtful if the door came to
the level of the ground, which seems to have been raised in the course
of centuries. A door opened into the church on the east side of the
tower. It is about 3 feet wide by 6 feet 2 inches high, and has also a
flat arch; but it is not easy to say whether these doors are original or
are insertions. In the basement floor on the north and south sides there
is a square-headed window, about 7 or 8 feet above the floor. The one on
the north side is 12 inches wide by about 1 foot 10 inches high, and is
divided by a mullion placed similarly to that in the south belfry
window.
From the foregoing description, it seems not unlikely that the same
ideas which prevailed with the builders of the round towers actuated the
men who built this one. It probably contained the bells, and was used as
a place of safety detached from the church.
The tower is enclosed on three sides by the church. From the east face
of the tower the nave measures 46 feet 1 inch in length, and, including
the tower, the central aisle of the nave measures 58 feet 10 inches in
length by 20 feet 6 inches in width, and the total width inside,
including the aisles, is 45 feet 5 inches. The total length of the
church inside, including the chancel, is 105 feet 5 inches, and the
width of the chancel is 16 feet.
Fig. 165.—Muthill Church. Plan and Section of Top Story
of Tower.
The walls of the main nave are wider than the tower. The south aisle
(see Fig. 166.) is divided into three bays, and the north aisle into two
bays. The piers are octagonal, with corresponding responds. There are no
capitals on the piers, and the bases have simple splays; the splayed
arches of the arcade die against the piers (Fig. 167). From the floor to
the springing of the arches is 6 feet 7½ inches, and to the soffit of
the arch at the apex is 17 feet 4½ inches. The chancel arch, which is 13
feet 11 inches wide, is treated in a similar manner to the other arches,
and is a few feet higher.
The roof of the church is shown on the sketch by Nattes as being in one
span; so that there does not appear to have been a clerestory over the
nave arcade. Now only the foundation of the north aisle wall remains,
and the chancel walls are reduced to a few feet in height; while at the
west end they have almost disappeared, showing how badly used the place
has been during this century. The entrance to the church was by a
square-lintelled doorway in the centre of the south wall of the nave,
and there appears to have been a priests’ doorway in the south side of
the
Fig. 166.—Muthill Church. View from South-East.
chancel. There is a door through the east wall of the north aisle, which
possibly led into what may have been a sacristy or vestry. At the west
Fig. 167.—Muthill Church. West Window and Respond.
end of the north aisle there seems to have been a chapel, lighted with a
west window.
The windows of the church, of which three remain entire in the south
Fig. 168.—Muthill Church. Plan of Windows in South
Aisle.
aisle (Fig. 168), contain three lights in each. They are of good design,
and resemble windows in the north side of Dunblane Cathedral. The east
window in the south aisle of the nave is completely demolished, and only
one jamb remains of the west window of the north-west chapel. Over each
of the end windows of the south aisle there are small pointed windows,
widely splayed towards the
Fig. 169.—Muthill Church. Remains of Sedilia.
inside. One of these is shown in Fig. 164. An ambry at the east end of
the south aisle, and a roughly-formed recess or ambry on the north side
of the chancel, with the remains of a sedilia, complete the
ecclesiastical appurtenances of the church, so far as they have been
spared, if, indeed, the latter can be said to have been spared. It is
situated in the usual place, near the east end of the chancel; but only
a portion of the west corner remains. (Fig. 169). It is moulded, having
a hollow set in a splay, with a stop chamfer above the seat level. How
it was finished along the top nothing remains to indicate. There were
three seats, graduated in height—an unusual feature in Scotland. The
lowest seat, which is 1 foot 11 inches wide, is the narrowest; the
centre one is 2 feet 3 inches; and the east one appears to have been the
widest, but, the wall being broken down, the exact dimensions cannot be
given.
Opposite the sedilia are the mutilated remains of two figures. (Fig.
170). They are life-size, and are cut out of one stone. They have
Fig. 170.—Muthill Church. Monument.
recently been protected by a strong iron hearse, and the following
inscription on the wall behind tells who they were, viz.:—“In memory of
Ada, daughter of Henry, Seneschal of Strathearn, and of Sir Muriel
Drummond, first Knight of Concraig, who died 1362, whose effigies
beneath have wasted by the long Lapse of Time. This Tablet has been
placed by their Descendants, the Drummonds of Megginch, late of Lennoch,
in Strathearn. A.D., 1880.”
The edifice, now in ruins, was built by Michael Ochiltree, who was first
Dean, then Bishop of Dunblane. Keith (Catalogue) says:—“It is to be
supposed that he built the Church of Muthill while he was Dean only,
that church belonging to the deanery.” He was Dean in 1425, and Bishop
in 1430. When he died is not known, but he was Bishop in 1445, and his
successor, Robert Lauder, was Bishop in 1449. Spottiswood says that
Ochiltree was “a wealthy prelate, and well esteemed; and so purchased to
his see a great part of the forfeited lands of Strathearn, adorned the
Cathedral of Dunblane, built the bridge of Knaik and Machant, with the
Church of Muthill, and did in his time divers other good works.” He
crowned James II. in Holyrood in 1437, and his effigy is shown in the
nave of Dunblane Cathedral.
The village of Dunning is situated in Lower Strathearn, about 1¾ mile
south-east of the railway station of the same name. The following
historical facts connected with the church and district are from a
scarce “History of Dunning,” by the late Rev. John Wilson, minister of
the parish.
“Dunning,” Mr. Wilson says, “when first heard of in authentic history,
formed part of the ancient Stewartry or Earldom of Strathearn, and dates
back to a remote antiquity,” the Earls or Courts Palatine of Strathearn
dating from before the Norman Conquest. When the foreign immigrants
arrived in Scotland, in the twelfth century, under David I., “there were
families of the ancient Scottish or Celtic blood who held their own, and
maintained their native customs amid the new-fangled innovations of the
Saxon and Norman chivalry. One of the most famous of these native
magnates was Malis, Earl of Strathearn, who acted a prominent part in
the disastrous Battle of the Standard.”
In the course of time this reserve on the part of the native nobles wore
away, and we find that Gilbert, the grandson of Malis, “took charters
from the king for the lands which his fathers had held by their swords.
He connected himself by marriage with the new-comers, and rivalled the
most zealous of the followers of King David in his munificence to the
Church.” He “richly endowed the neighbouring Abbey of Canons Regular at
Inchaffray, annexing to it the tithes of many of the surrounding
parishes,” as is shown by the foundation charter of the Abbey in the
library of the Earl of Kinnoull, “dated in the year 1200 from the
incarnation of our Lord, in the thirty-fifth year of the reign of King
William.”
Fig. 171.—Tower of St. Serf’s, Dunning. From
North-West.
In a charter of confirmation, nineteen years later, Gilbert, in addition
to his former liberality, grants to Inchaffray, “Ecclesiam sancti
servani de Dunnyne,” the “church dedicated to St. Servanus, or Serf, at
Dunning;” so that we have here proof of the existence of a church at
Dunning in the year 1219, and it may be inferred that it did not exist
in the year 1200, from its not being mentioned in the charters of that
year. The date, therefore, of the erection of this church is narrowed to
the early years of the thirteenth century, and there need be no
hesitation in assigning to that time the present tower and certain other
portions of
Fig. 172.—St. Serf’s, Dunning. Plan.
the structure. This tower, although similar in general form to those at
Muthill and Dunblane, is considerably later in date. It is an example of
Norman work continuing to be used in Scotland for some years after 1200,
the pointed form of the arch being the only indication of the coming
change of style.
The tower (Fig. 171), which is of Norman architecture, is placed at the
west end of the church (Fig. 172). It is built in three unequal tapering
stages, and without buttresses, to a height of about 75 feet to the
ridge. The two stories above the church roof have small square-lintelled
windows, but in the belfry stage double windows are introduced (Fig.
173). Both lights are contained within a plain square-edged round arch,
without imposts, and the two lights, which have plain round arches, are
separated by a central shaft with cushion cap. The crow-stepped gablets
of the saddle-backed roof are probably of later date, but they, no
doubt, indicate the original style of finishing the tower. The turret
stair, shown on plan (see Fig. 172.) stops about half-way up, access
above being obtained by wooden ladders. The elaborately-carved and
pointed archway (Fig. 174), opening from the tower into the church, is a
most noteworthy
Fig. 173.—St. Serf’s, Dunning. South-East View of
Tower.
Fig. 174.—St. Serf’s, Dunning. Archway in Tower.
Fig. 175.—St. Serf’s, Dunning. Plan of Tower and Detail
of Archway.
feature, and was quite concealed from view till disclosed during the
course of some recent repairs. Figs. 175, 176, and 177 show the details
of this archway.
Fig. 176.—St. Serf’s, Dunning. Details of Arch.
Considerable portions of the old church still remain. The building,
Fig. 177.—St. Serf’s, Dunning. Apex of Archway.
as it now stands, is 68 feet long by 25 feet wide on the outside at the
east end, and 26 feet 9 inches at the west end. The total length,
including the tower, is 82 feet, the height of which to the ridge is 75
feet.
The church has been greatly altered at various times; an aisle has been
added on the north side, and the ancient north doorway (Fig. 178) has
been disfigured and almost concealed by an outside staircase being built
across it. The west gable wall of the church, however, and a good part
of the north wall and the east wall are original. The ancient corbels at
the north parapet still survive (see Fig. 178.), and the raggle of the
original roof is seen against the east side of the tower (see Fig. 173.).
It is thus quite evident that the existing building is in great part on
the site of the Ecclesia
Fig. 178.—St. Serf’s, Dunning. Doorway, &c., on North
Side.
sancti servani de Dunnyne. There appears to have been a chancel, as
Mr. Thomson informs us that during alterations about twenty-five years
ago the bases of the pillars were found in situ.
The parish of Cruggleton now forms part of the parish of Sorbie, with
which it was united in the seventeenth century. The old church of
Cruggleton is situated near the coast about three miles from Garleston,
Fig. 179.—Cruggleton Church. Chancel Arch, from West.
and about the same distance from Whithorn, to the priory at which it
belonged before the Reformation. The church of Cruggleton, being
abandoned, fell into decay. The view (Fig. 179), for which we have to
thank Mr. Galloway, shows its condition before it was recently restored
by the Marquis of Bute, under Mr. Galloway’s careful superintendence.
The building is still surrounded by its burial-ground. The plan (Fig.
181) shows a simple oblong church, 34 feet in length by 20 feet in
width, with an oblong chancel 20 feet 3 inches long by 16 feet wide. The
side walls were considerably damaged, but enough of them remained
Fig. 180.—Cruggleton Church. Chancel Arch. From
South-East.
to enable the outline to be distinctly traced. The best preserved and
most important feature was the chancel arch, which was 8 feet in width.
Its architecture, which was extremely simple, was of the early Norman
style. It had three orders on the side next the nave (see Fig. 179.),
each side having two nook shafts, built in courses and provided with
cushion caps. The inner jambs were plain, and the aperture in the wall
was simply faced with a square ingoing of ashlar, and enclosed on the
side next the chancel (Fig. 180) with a single square-edged arch
springing from a very plain impost.
Mr. Muir points out that when he visited the church the walls, “except
the west one, which wants the gable, are at about their full height; but
Fig. 181.—Cruggleton Church. Plan.
most of the dressed stones have been torn from the corners of both
compartments, the chancel arch and other parts easily got at.” He could
not discern traces of there having
Fig. 182.—Cruggleton Church. North Doorway as Restored.
ever been more than two windows, “that on the east a small and very
plain round headed one, widely splayed within, and the west one of the
same shape, but much broader, and set square in the wall.” In the
restoration carried out by Mr. Galloway great care has been taken to
restore every part (so far as precedent could be obtained) to its
original condition. As an example of Mr. Galloway’s patient research we
may quote his account of the steps by which the original design of the
south doorway was ascertained. “To begin with, a stone or two of the
internal sconsions remained in situ. This gave the position and size
internally of the long demolished doorway. Part of the paving and
massive rubble steps at the outside also remained. Of the external
features there seemed at first to be no trace. The discovery of one
stone threw a flood of light on it. This was the base of a column which
had never been shifted out of its position, but simply lifted and laid
on its side, with the bottom bed outwards, so as to look like an
ordinary courser. I also found about the same place several plain arch
stones, also a capital of simple form, and from these materials, and
especially the base found in situ, there could be no doubt that the
external features were a plain ring like that of the chancel arch
carried on engaged columns. In taking down some of a dry stone dyke a
large rybat and an arch stone checked and chamfered were found, which
could only be part of the actual doorway. The only uncertainty is the
height; the original may have been lower, but we cannot be certain. I
adhered to the proportions usual in other examples.” Fig. 182 shows the
restored doorway, “a recovery out of the long forgotten past.”
A few remains of the ancient church of Monymusk still survive and are
incorporated with the modern church now erected on the old site. The
village is situated in the valley of the Don, about one mile from the
station of the branch railway to Alford, and is about seven miles up the
valley from Kintore Junction. Monymusk is a place of great antiquity,
being one of the oldest seats of the Culdees in the North of Scotland. A
church is said to have been founded here by Malcolm Canmore, who
Fig. 183.—Monymusk Church. Plan.
vowed it to St. Andrew, and marked off the tower with his spear before
engaging in battle against the Mormaer of Moray. Dr. Skene[152] points
out that the community of Keledei at Monimusc were connected with St.
Andrews, having probably been founded by the Bishop of St. Andrews. The
church here, like that at St. Andrews, was dedicated to St. Mary. The
Culdees first appear at Monymusk in 1170, and it is said that Gilchrist,
Earl of Mar (1199-1207), built them a convent on condition that they
should subject themselves to canonical rule. Disputes having arisen
between the Culdees and the Bishop of St. Andrews, an arrangement was
finally come to, by which the Keledei were allowed to retain their lands
and dues, they promising to do nothing to the prejudice of the church of
St. Andrews or the parish church of Monymusk. They were thus brought
under the more direct control of the Bishop who is called the
Fig. 184.—Monymusk Church. View from South-West.
founder of their house, and they were thus assimilated to the state into
which the Keledei of St. Andrews had been brought. Like them, they
consisted of a prior or head, with twelve members, and, like them, were
excluded from all parochial functions. In 1245 the Keledei of Monymusk
had entirely disappeared, and instead we have a confirmation by Pope
Innocent II. to the “prior and convent of Monymusk of the Order of St.
Augustine.”
The remains of the ancient Norman church establish the antiquity of the
foundation. These consist of the lower part of the tower and the chancel
arch. The church, as it now stands (Fig. 183), is a plain oblong modern
structure 45 feet in length by 20 feet 3 inches in width internally,
with a north wing or aisle, and galleries in the north, west, and east
divisions entered from outside stairs. The ancient tower at the west end
and the ancient chancel arch at the east end clearly fix the length of
the original structure, and the modern side walls probably mark the
position of the original side walls. To the east of the chancel arch
there is an apartment about 15 feet square, used as a vestry, and in
continuation of this structure to the eastward are the roofless walls of
a building 34 feet in length. This enclosure is used as a burial-place.
It has a modern doorway in the north wall, and all the walls are so
covered with ivy that no traces of ancient work, if such exist, can be
discovered.
Fig. 185.—Monymusk Church. Chancel Arch.
The west tower (Fig. 184) is 22 feet by 23 feet externally. It appears
to have been almost entirely rebuilt, except the doorway in the west
wall, which seems to be ancient. It has plain square jambs and round
arch head, with hood mould enclosing the arch stones. The opening in the
west wall of the tower leading into the church has been by a round
archway 9 feet in width, now built up. This wall has been much altered,
but there appear to have been Norman imposts to the arch. The chancel
arch (Fig. 185) is 8 feet 6 inches wide. It has had a large attached
centre shaft and two smaller side shafts in each jamb. The north centre
shaft has been removed and a wooden substitute introduced. The shafts
have all had Norman caps of the cushion pattern (see enlarged sketch in
Fig. 185.), but they are now so battered as to be scarcely
distinguishable. The arch is much concealed under the east gallery. To
the right of it is a monumental tablet of the seventeenth century, which
bears the arms of Leslie and Forbes impaled.
From the style of the architecture of the Norman remains, it seems most
probable that they form part of the convent erected by the Earl of Mar
in the beginning of the thirteenth century.
Birnie is believed to have been the original seat of the Bishop of Moray
before he migrated, in the first place, to Kineddar, then to Spynie, and
finally to Elgin. Simeon, the fourth Bishop, was buried here in 1184.
The church is situated about three miles south from Elgin, near the
river Lossie, and the road to it from Elgin passes through a pleasant,
well cultivated country, diversified with numerous undulations and
woods.
Fig. 186.—Birnie Church. Plan.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Brandon, stands on the top of a
small alluvial hill and is conspicuous from a distance. It is evidently
ancient, and, although perfectly plain externally, impresses one at
sight, from the nature of its masonry, as being of Norman workmanship.
The stone work is all of square dressed freestone ashlar, both
externally and internally. The west wall was rebuilt in 1734 (the date
on the belfry), when the church was shortened by a few feet, and
although the old materials were reused, the inferiority of the new
workmanship to the old is very apparent.
As it now stands, the edifice (Fig. 186) consists of nave and chancel,
without aisles. The former measures 42 feet long by 18 feet 6 inches
wide internally, and the latter is 16 feet long by 13 feet wide. The
nave has a doorway in the south wall, and another immediately opposite
it in the north wall. The chancel has a small round-headed window in
each of the north and south walls, and it is remarkable that there is no
window in the east wall. There is also a doorway in the south wall of
the chancel, which has evidently been added or enlarged at a
comparatively late period. Every part of the building, both externally
and internally, is perfectly plain. The only portion which presents the
smallest approach to ornament is the chancel arch (Fig. 187). The
opening is 7 feet 6 inches in width, and is flanked at each side by a
substantial semi-circular attached shaft, which has a moulded base and a
heavy Norman cap of the pattern founded on the cushion, with
Fig. 187.—Birnie Church. Chancel Arch and Font.
numerous subdivisions. The upper part of the cap has also a small
stepped ornament, similar to what exists at Jedburgh and elsewhere. The
square abacus of the caps carries an arch which forms one square order,
and the angles of the jambs support another square order on each side of
the first. The architecture, though simple, is good, and, together with
the chancel arch, indicates a rather advanced date in the Norman period,
probably towards the end of the twelfth century. Within the chancel arch
there stands a very interesting relic of Norman design, probably of
older date than the church. This is the stone font, the upper part of
which consists of a semi-hemispherical stone basin, with portions cut
off vertically, like a cushion cap, while the top plinth has small
portions at the angles cut off, thus making it an irregular octagon. The
pedestal on which the basin rests is circular, and is fluted with small
spirals passing round it. This, we understand, was supplied recently.
The church also contains a very rare and interesting specimen of the
ancient square shaped Celtic bell, which may possibly indicate that the
present church was preceded by a Celtic monastery, of which this is a
relic, but of which no record remains.
St. Oran’s Chapel is the name given to a small edifice which stands in
the ancient burial-ground situated a short distance south-west from the
cathedral. The name of the churchyard is “Relig Oran,” being so called
from Oran, one of St. Columba’s companions, who was probably the first
of his followers who died on the island.
As stated in the Introduction,[153] this chapel is supposed by Dr.
Reeves to have been built by Queen Margaret about 1074. The chapel (Fig.
188) is a plain oblong, 30 feet long by 16 feet wide internally. As
often happens in West Highland chapels, there is no window in the east
wall.
Fig. 188.—St. Oran’s Chapel. Plan.
The only light was obtained from two narrow windows near the east end,
one in the north and the other in the south wall, immediately opposite
one another.
The entrance doorway (Fig. 189) is in the west wall. It is more
elaborate than most of the West Highland chapels, having (Fig. 190) two
nook shafts on each side with plain cushion caps, surmounted by a
semi-circular arch in two orders with a label, all of which have been
elaborately carved with Norman enrichments. Those of the label consist
of a series of round and rather pointed knobs. The outer order seems to
have been carved with a bird’s head ornament, and the inner order with a
kind of chevron. All the carved work, however, is greatly decayed by
exposure to the weather. The building has a gable at each end, and has
had a wooden roof. In the interior of the south wall a somewhat
elaborate monument (Fig. 191) has been inserted, which, from its style,
is evidently of late date. The canopy consists of two orders, one of an
ogee form, with weather table, which has been ornamented with crockets,
and has a crucifixion introduced in the pinnacle at the top of the arch.
The label terminations at each side
Fig. 189.—St. Oran’s Chapel. View from West.
consist of animals like lions of an exaggerated size. The inner arch has
a large cusp which has been filled with Celtic carved scroll work, but
it is now much decayed. A broken piscina stands at the west side of the
monument. A number of very interesting and finely carved Celtic
monumental slabs are preserved in the chapel, and a great many more,
some of
Fig. 190.—St. Oran’s Chapel. West Doorway.
them said to be the monuments of Scottish, Irish, and Norwegian kings,
lie exposed in the churchyard, and are gradually wasting away. They are
all elaborately carved with the floral ornament peculiar to this part of
the country, while some also contain the dog-tooth ornament, which was
revived here at a late date. This will be further referred to in
connection with Iona Cathedral.
Fig. 191.—St. Oran’s Chapel. Monument.
Mr. Romilly Allen has shown that the Norman carved work in England was
executed between 1135 and 1190, and that hardly any carving exists on
churches of an earlier date. It could, therefore, not be looked for here
till towards the end of the twelfth century. The carved work in the west
doorway of the chapel, being of a somewhat advanced character of
ornament, can, therefore, scarcely be earlier than about the beginning
of the thirteenth century.
When treating of Edinburgh Castle in the Castellated and Domestic
Architecture of Scotland,[154] this chapel was briefly described and
illustrated; but it has been thought of sufficient importance to be
included in this volume, with additional illustrations[155] and
descriptive matter.
Fig. 192.—St. Margaret’s Chapel, Edinburgh Castle. Plan
and Sections.
The exterior walls of the chapel (Fig. 192) form an oblong, measuring 31
feet 7 inches from east to west, by 16 feet in width at the east end and
14 feet 4 inches at the west end. The angles of the structure are thus
not right angles. Although the building is extremely simple in its
external aspect, it is more ornamental and of a more developed form of
plan in the
Fig. 193.—St. Margaret’s Chapel, Edinburgh Castle.
Elevations.
interior. The plan comprises a nave with a chancel arch, and a chancel
which has a round apse formed within the square east end of the
exterior. The nave is 15 feet 10 inches long by 10 feet 4 inches and 9
feet 9 inches wide at the east and west ends respectively. The chancel
is 9 feet 7½ inches long, and the same width at the west end. The total
interior length is 27 feet 4½ inches. The nave is waggon vaulted,
without ribs; and the apse is roofed with a vault forming the quadrant
of a dome. The nave vault is about 10 feet 8 inches high. (See sections,
Fig. 192.)
The chapel stands on the extreme summit of the Castle rock, and the rock
which is seen rising against it on all sides, except the north (on which
side the level outside is nearly the same as that of the floor), has, it
is understood, in recent years been partially cut away on the south,
east, and west sides. (Fig. 193.) This operation has to be kept in view
in considering the masonry of the exterior walls, for on those three
sides there has necessarily been a certain amount of underbuilding,
which is consequently of a much more modern character than Norman
masonry.
Fig. 194.—St. Margaret’s Chapel, Edinburgh Castle. View
from South-West.
The genuine surviving Norman masonry begins below the line of the south
windows (see Fig. 194.). The first two or three courses, which extend up
to the sills of the south windows, are built of reddish stone, above
which are five courses of a bluish grey stone, the upper course being
above the windows. All the masonry above that level on the south and
north sides is later work.
The masonry of the north and east sides has been greatly interfered
with, as has also that of the west end, where, however, there are
several consecutive Norman courses. The east wall appears to have been
carried to a greater height than the other walls (Fig. 194), as if some
higher building had been attached to the chapel.
The alterations above referred to show that the side and end walls have
been raised, and we have no doubt that the upper part of the west gable
above the window, with the ridge course, is modern, or at least of a
date long subsequent to the original building.
The present porch in front of the entrance door on the north side, near
the west end, is quite modern, although the doorway itself is ancient. A
Fig. 195.—St. Margaret’s Chapel, Edinburgh Castle.
Elevation of Chancel Arch.
square-headed doorway, with splayed opening, has, possibly in the
sixteenth or seventeenth centuries, been cut through the west wall (see
Fig. 194.). There are indications of a narrow doorway having formerly
opened into the chancel on the north side. It is now built up, and forms
an ambry on the inside. (See Fig. 192.)
There are three windows in the south wall, one of them being in the
chancel. There is also a window in each of the end walls, the one in the
west end being at a considerably higher level than the other (see Fig.
194.). All the windows are splayed widely on the inside, and slightly so
on the outside, and they are round arched. They are all about 8 inches
wide by about 2 feet high. The two westmost windows in the south
Fig. 196.—St. Margaret’s Chapel, Edinburgh Castle.
Chancel Arch Details.
wall, and the high window in the west gable, give light to the nave; the
east window in the south wall, and that in the east wall, light the
chancel, the former being in the south side, and the latter in the
centre of the circular apse.
There is a locker on the north side of the chancel, and a piscina
projects, without any recess in the wall, from the south side. This
piscina
Fig. 197.—St. Margaret’s Chapel, Edinburgh Castle.
Chancel Arch.
has a very new look, as if it had been rewrought or renewed; but we have
no reason to doubt but that it faithfully represents the original
piscina. It has the usual drain.
The chancel arch (Fig. 195), while quite in proportion to the chapel, is
little larger than an ordinary doorway. Its opening measures 5 feet 1
inch wide by 6 feet 4 inches to the springing of the arch, and 9 feet in
height, measuring from the nave floor to the soffit of the arch, and
there is a step up to the chancel. Each jamb (Fig. 196) has two
monolithic shafts, set in nooks, with cushion cups. The arch, which is
in two corresponding orders, is decorated with the ordinary chevron
design. (Fig. 197.) Enclosing the arch is a label moulding, enriched
with a lozenge pattern. The arch on the chancel side is quite plain.
The arched roof of the nave, which is built with carefully-dressed
stones, seems to be of a later date than the walls, the masonry being
finer, and of a different and lighter coloured stone.
The existence of this chapel was long lost sight of, till the late Sir
Daniel Wilson, in the course of his explorations in Old Edinburgh,
discovered the true nature of the building. He thinks that it is in all
probability the chapel used by Queen Margaret during her residence in
the Castle before her death in 1093, and that it is probably the most
ancient chapel in Scotland. It does not, however, appear to be a very
early specimen of Norman work, but rather a fairly-advanced example of
the style, both in plan and decoration. Had the chapel been erected in
the eleventh century, it would certainly have been of a much ruder style
of architecture. No Norman building of that period can be shown to exist
in Scotland. Sir Daniel supposes it to be earlier than the Norman part
of Holyrood, which was founded in 1128; though probably no part was
erected till a considerable time thereafter. Now, the doorway on the
south side of Holyrood (the only Norman portion of that building
remaining) is not unlike the chancel arch here. The caps of the shafts,
the chevron decoration of the arches, and the enriched label are all
similar in design, and there is no reason whatever for supposing the one
to be older than the other.
After the chapel was discovered, it was intended to be used for its
original purpose; a font was gifted to it, and the windows were filled
with stained glass. It has now, however, degenerated into a shop for the
sale of nicknacks to tourists.
Situated north of the Forth, or “Scots Water,” in the heart of the old
Pictish kingdom, Dunfermline was from an early period occupied as a
secure and pleasant site by the kings of Scotland. Here Malcolm Canmore
had his tower (of which a few crumbling remains still survive), and here
he entertained the royal fugitives from England, and married the
Princess Margaret, one of these refugees, in 1070.
The King and Queen ended their lives in 1093, within a few days of each
other—the first at the siege of Alnwick, and the other in Edinburgh
Castle.
According to Turgot, her confessor and biographer, Queen Margaret,
immediately after her marriage, founded a church “in that place where
the nuptials were celebrated.” This church was dedicated to the Holy
Trinity in 1074. It became the place of royal sepulture, and Queen
Margaret was buried there a few days after her death. From that time
onwards there are continuous references to grants to the Church of the
Holy Trinity, and to interments of royal personages therein.
As no notice has been preserved of the erection of any new church till
the building of the choir in the first quarter of the thirteenth
century, it has been supposed that the nave of the existing structure
(which is in the Norman style) may have been the church founded and
erected by Queen Margaret. But the style of the building forbids this
supposition. None of the English cathedrals were founded till the end of
the eleventh century, and few were carried out till the expiry of the
first quarter of the twelfth century. Scotland would certainly not be in
advance of England in its style of architecture, and we know that
little, if any, Norman work was executed in this country till the days
of David I. Professor Innes is, therefore, no doubt right when he
says—“The original church of Canmore, perhaps not of stone, must have
been replaced by a new edifice when it was dedicated in the reign of
David I.”[156] The style of the structure is early Norman, and would
naturally follow the erection of Durham Cathedral, which took place
about twenty-five years earlier.
Probably the original church of Malcolm stood where the new choir was
afterwards erected, and David I. added the Norman nave to it. The nature
of the site seems to favour this view, as the ground to the west slopes
rapidly away, and scarcely allows room for the west end of the nave;
while the conventual buildings, for want of suitable space, have had to
be carried with an archway over a public street.
It is believed that Alexander I. contemplated the erection of the church
into an abbey, and had possibly made arrangements for the introduction
of monks. At any rate, in the year of the accession of his successor,
David I. (1124), canons of the Order of St. Augustine were brought from
Canterbury and established at Dunfermline.
It was, no doubt, soon after that event that David I. carried out
extensive works at the new monastery, and probably added the Norman nave
to the then existing church of his parents, Margaret and Malcolm. The
monastery continued to flourish, and was largely endowed. The early
church was soon found to be too small, and it was resolved to rebuild
it, so as to form a new choir and transept worthy of the dignity and
importance of the convent. This was accordingly carried out between 1216
and 1226, when the choir, with its aisles, the transept, and the
presbytery were erected. Abbot Patrick, who had formerly been Dean
Fig. 198.—Dunfermline Abbey. Plan.
and Prior of Canterbury, presided at Dunfermline during the whole of the
above time. After him came Abbot William (II.), whom we find appealing
to Pope Honorius III. for certain patronages and presentations on
account of the great expense incurred during the last ten years in
carrying on the extended fabric, whereby the monastery had been greatly
impoverished. Again, in 1231, a similar appeal was made to Pope Gregory
IX., both on account of the expenses of the church,
Fig. 199.—Dunfermline Abbey. Plan of Nave.
and also because the number of canons had been increased from thirty to
fifty.
In 1249 a dispute arose regarding the consecration of the new choir, but
Honorius IV. decided that a new consecration was not necessary, as the
consecrated walls of the older part (the nave) continued in use. In the
same year Queen Margaret was canonised, and in 1250 her body was
transferred from the old church to the new Lady Chapel, in presence of
all the chief men in the kingdom. “The translation of the saintly
foundress was probably arranged,” says Professor Innes, “to give
solemnity to the opening of the new church.”[157] Soon after this the
abbey is described by Matthew of Westminster, who probably saw it, as of
vast extent, and containing such magnificent palaces that three kings,
with their trains, might be accommodated within its walls.
“This sumptuous pile was destroyed and levelled with the ground by the
soldiers of Edward in 1303, excepting only the church and a few
dwellings for the monks.”[158]
The Exchequer Rolls inform us of the great expense sometimes incurred in
connection with the tombs of the illustrious persons buried in the
abbey.[159]
The monastic buildings were, as we have seen, on a very magnificent
scale; but of the church, and all the splendid structures connected with
the abbey, there now only remain (Fig. 198) the Norman nave, the base of
the Lady Chapel, and part of the refectory and kitchen.
Fig. 200.—Nave Piers and Wall Responds.
The nave (Fig. 199), which is wonderfully well preserved, measures about
106 feet long inside, by about 55 feet wide between the aisle walls. The
piers are circular, and measure 4 feet 4½ inches in diameter. The plan
of these, with that of the wall responds (Fig. 200), indicates that the
original intention (which was carried out) was to groin the aisles. The
two eastern bays between the eastern pillars are built up with solid
masonry, and only a portion of the arches is seen. The original respond
at the east gable wall, against which these arches rested, has long
since disappeared, in connection with the erection of the later church.
The two western bays, and the triforium arches above them (one on each
side), have also been filled up with solid building in order to
strengthen the western towers. The southern of these arches is shown in
Fig. 201. The pillars which support the west towers are of greater size
than the others, and are of a different section. One of the pillars and
the corresponding arch of the north arcade are of late Gothic work, and
may be part of the repairs ordered by the Privy Council in 1563,[160] or
of the work done in 1594, under the direction of William Schaw, Master
of Works, who at that time built the north-west tower and steeple
Fig. 201.—Dunfermline Abbey. Interior of West End of
Nave.
Fig. 202.—Dunfermline Abbey. West End.
Fig. 203.—Dunfermline Abbey. North Porch.
(Fig. 202), as well as the porch on the north side of the nave (Fig.
203). At the same time, also, certain great buttresses (Fig. 204) were
built against the outer walls, which are now conspicuous features of the
structure.
The great western doorway of the church (Fig. 205) remains unaltered,
and is a good example of Norman work. It consists of five orders, having
round and octagonal shafts alternately, chiefly with cushion caps, but
some are ornamented with scrolls (Fig. 206). The abacus is heavy, and is
carved with sunk diapers. The orders are continued round the arches, and
contain chevron ornaments (much decayed), rosettes, and diapers. The
outer order contains large heads and geometric figures in the alternate
voussoirs, an arrangement similar to that at Dalmeny and Whithorn, where
also the geometric figures resemble those adopted here. The original
north doorway (Fig. 207), which is partly concealed by Schaw’s porch, is
similar in design, with the addition of an arcade above the arch (see
Fig. 203.), somewhat resembling, but plainer than that over the doorway
of Dalmeny Church, on the south side of the Forth. The south doorway of
the church on the opposite side from the porch is a late work. There
appears to have been another south doorway at the east end of the nave,
but it is now built up. The whole of the aisle walls are arcaded in the
interior (Fig. 208) up to the height of the window sills, but the arcade
has been partly cut away for monuments.
The general design of the nave recalls that of Durham Cathedral, at the
founding of which King Malcolm Canmore was present. The same circular
piers, with zig-zag ornaments and massive cushion caps, and also
clustered piers, occur in each (Fig. 209), and the small circular bases,
resting on great square plinths, are common to both (see also p. 37,
Fig. 18.). The arches between the main piers (Fig. 210) consist of bold
mouldings, with the label ornament running round the outer moulding. The
triforium at Dunfermline is extremely simple (Fig. 211), consisting of a
single opening with plain jambs and round arch, with a large roll and
fillet in the centre of the thickness of the wall, supported on single
attached shafts with cushion caps. The clerestory is also very simple.
It contains one window in each bay, with plain recessed arch, supported
on single shafts with cushion caps. The aisles (Fig. 212) are vaulted
and groined. The transverse arches are flat, with a roll on each side,
and the diagonal groins spring from the detached shafts of the responds
(see Fig. 208.). The windows of the aisles (see Fig. 209.) are single
round-headed lights, having plain sconsions with one recessed shaft on
each side, and the arch enriched with chevron mouldings. Externally
(Fig. 213) they are of similar design.
Fig. 208 shows the wall shafting and springing of the ribs in the
aisles, and the mouldings of the nave arcade, with the arcading beneath
the
Fig. 204.—Dunfermline Abbey. Part of North Side.
Fig. 205.—Dunfermline Abbey. Western Doorway.
windows. It also shows the original aisle windows on the inside, while
Fig. 213 shows their appearance on the exterior. It will be observed in
the latter that there is the same sunk or label ornament on the
drip-stone as there is over the arches of the main arcade. Above the
aisle window (see the same Fig.) are the lights of the triforium
gallery. These have triangular heads, formed by two stones. They appear
to have been rounded or moulded on the edge, and spring from sunk shafts
having carved capitals. They are now very much decayed, and have all
been restored except two on the north side.
Judging from the existence of the large west end pillars already
referred to, it was evidently intended from the beginning to have two
western towers. The northern one
Fig. 206.—Dunfermline Abbey. From North Side of Western
Doorway.
was destroyed to a considerable extent at the Reformation,[161] along
with the upper part of the adjoining gable. In its present state it was
designed and built by William Schaw, and is a very effective example of
the architecture of his time (see Figs. 202 and 204). The bold
corbelling at the top of the tower recalls the somewhat similar
treatment of the towers of St. Machar’s, Aberdeen, and other examples
derived from domestic architecture. The south-west tower appears to have
escaped the fury of the Reformers, and to have remained intact, although
in a ruinous state, till 1807, when it fell, having been struck by
lightning. Three years later the present top was put on the old walls.
The Lady Chapel at the east end, built to receive Queen Margaret’s
shrine, is now reduced to a small fragment (see Plan), consisting of
part of the south and east walls, which remain to the height of about 2
or 3 feet. It has been a small structure of about 26 feet 9 inches by 22
feet, of delicate and refined first pointed work, as is apparent from
the bases of the wall arcading and the edge of the surrounding seat,
enriched with nail-head ornaments, which still exist (Fig. 214). The
Lady Chapel appears from an old view[162] to have been a low structure,
reaching only to the sill of the great east window of the choir, and it
was evidently vaulted in two compartments.
Of the choir of the thirteenth century (shown on the Ground Plan, see
Fig. 198.) not a single stone exists, having been removed to make room
for a modern church; but before the latter was built (begun in 1818),
considerable remains of the choir and apparently the whole of the
foundations were standing. These ruins were measured and drawn by Mr.
J. Baine, C.E., Edinburgh, in 1790, and by the Rev. Mr. Syme in 1805.
From their
Fig. 207.—Dunfermline Abbey. Northern Doorway.
labours the author of the Annals (Mr. E. Henderson) made a complete
plan of the church in 1827, and from it the ground plan of the choir now
Fig. 208.—Dunfermline Abbey. Aisle.
given has been filled in.[163] The choir was a prolongation of the
present nave, having transepts, and also a great aisle on the north
side, the walls of which latter remained till this century. There was a
lofty central tower
Fig. 209.—Dunfermline Abbey. View of Nave looking
West.
of two stories, with three windows in each story facing the four sides.
Altogether this church must have been a magnificent structure, and was
adorned with many altars and shrines. It was to that part of the church
specially that the zeal of the Reforming party was directed, when upon
the 28th March 1560, “the wholl lordis and barnis that were on thys syde
of Forth, passed to Stirling, and be the way kest doun the Abbey of
Dunfermling.”—(Lindsay, Chronicle of Scotland, Vol. II. p. 555.)
The interior length of the whole church from the west doorway to the
Lady Chapel at the east end is 268 feet 6 inches, and the length of the
exterior is 280 feet.
Fig. 210.—Dunfermline Abbey. Details.
The edifice occupies a lofty and commanding situation, from which the
ground falls away on the west and south sides. The monastic buildings
stood on the south side of the nave at a considerably lower level than
the church. Of these structures, as is shown by the dark walls on the
Plan, considerable remains still exist. The ground between the dark
walls and the church has, in recent years, been levelled up, the outer
portions of the monastic buildings serving as retaining walls. With the
exception of these outer walls, the site of the monastery is thus
buried. The refectory stood on the south side of the cloister, and the
whole length and height of its south and west walls still exist. There
is also a small portion of the return of its north wall, adjoining the
west gable wall. Indications of its east wall also exist, thus enabling
its dimensions to be fixed at 103 feet in length by 34 feet in width.
The south wall (Fig. 215) was divided into seven bays, and in six of
these there are lofty two-light windows (Fig. 216). The eastern bay is
occupied by the pulpit or reading-place, from which one of the brethren
read aloud during meals. This place, which occupies the whole of one
bay, is about 15 feet long, and is corbelled outwards on a cusped arch
(see Fig. 215.) about 4 feet 6 inches wide. It is lighted from the
outside by two windows, which have mullions and tracery, still entire,
flush with the face of the wall. On the side next the hall there are two
lofty openings.
Adjoining the refectory on the south-west is a large tower, beneath
which runs a public road, called St. Catherine’s Wynd, through a “pend”
or archway, whence the building is called the “Pend Tower.” The outside
of the refectory and “Pend Tower” (see Fig. 216.) is very
Fig. 211.—Dunfermline Abbey. Triforium and Clerestory.
imposing, with the simple row of lofty buttresses and windows along the
top. The west gable wall of the refectory (Fig. 217) is still entire,
and has a large window of seven lights. The tracery of this
Fig. 212.—Dunfermline Abbey. North Aisle.
window is in good preservation (Fig. 218), and is one of the most
favourable examples of a kind of tracery developed in Scotland during
the fifteenth century. At the north-west corner of the refectory is the
staircase tower (see Fig. 217.), which leads down to the offices below,
and upwards to the refectory roof, over which access was obtained to the
upper
Fig. 213.—Dunfermline Abbey. Exterior of Aisle and
Clerestory Windows.
story of the “Pend Tower.” In the north wall of the refectory, near the
west end, are the remains of a flue, which may have belonged to a
fireplace. The “Pend Tower” is still entire, wanting only the cape house
and roof. It served as a connecting passage between the abbey buildings
and the royal palace beyond. A door led from the refectory (see Plan,
Fig. 219.) by a passage into a groined chamber, and from thence into a
room in the palace situated over the kitchen. The kitchen is a lofty
room, now roofless, having remains of large fireplaces and some curious
recesses. Below the kitchen, but entering from another part of the
palace, there is a large vaulted apartment with central pillars. (Fig.
220.) These pillars were continued up through the kitchen, and probably
to the room, now gone, which stood over the kitchen. Another arched
passage led from this apartment through below St. Catherine’s Wynd and
up to the monastery. The building known as the palace was, doubtless,
intimately connected with the monastery, and the kitchen shown on the
plan may have been used in connection with both.
Returning to the vaulted chamber in the “Pend Tower,” a long narrow
vaulted passage leads from it along the refectory wall for the length of
two bays. It is vaulted across from side to side for the length of the
first bay, and then in the second bay one half-arch springs at right
Fig. 214.—Dunfermline Abbey. The Lady Chapel.
angles to the first arch from the end of the passage to meet the cross
vault. This probably indicates that steps lead down in the passage to
the level of the rooms below the refectory. But the place cannot be
properly seen, being chocked full with the grass and rubbish thrown in
from the churchyard. This passage is a very effective feature, as seen
from the outside. It is supported on arches thrown from buttress to
buttress, and is covered with a stone roof above (see Fig. 216.).
Within the “Pend Tower,” on the first floor, there is a five-sided room
with a fireplace, which appears to have been a sort of guard room. It is
vaulted, and has ribs irregularly placed, as shown on plan. This part of
the ruins is now a receptacle for rubbish, and is almost blocked up.
Over this, and entering from the circular stair adjoining, is the room
shown in Fig. 221. It is groin vaulted, and had a fireplace of good
design. To save this “Pend Tower,” with its fine vaulted apartments,
Fig. 215.—Dunfermline Abbey. South Wall of Refectory.
a proper roof ought to be placed over it. Beneath the tower is the
“Pend” or archway uniting St. Catherine’s Wynd and Monastery Street.
Fig. 216.—Dunfermline Abbey. The “Pend Tower” and part
of Refectory.
The above passage and staircase are additions made, without doubt, at
the time when the tower was built. This is clearly seen in Fig. 216.
From this drawing it is obvious that the arches were thrown between the
already existing buttresses of the refectory, and in the second bay the
arch is at a low level to permit of the descending stair already
referred to. The builders have just managed to save a very beautiful
doorway
Fig. 217.—Dunfermline Abbey. West End of Refectory.
belonging to the earlier building, now hardly seen in the shadow of the
overhanging addition.
To the east of the refectory there is a narrow chamber with the remains
of a two-light window in the south wall, and projecting southwards from
this is the lower part of the wall of the fratery reaching as high as
the floor of the refectory. On the east side of the fratery extends
Fig. 218.—Dunfermline Abbey. Interior of West Window of
Refectory.
the south wall of a building called, on the plan, the Bailery Prison.
These fragmentary structures exhaust the remains of the monastic
Fig. 219.—Dunfermline Abbey. Plan of “Pend Tower,” &c.
buildings. The chapterhouse, and the buildings on the east side of the
cloister (shown in outline on the plan), are taken from the old plan
already referred to, but their accuracy cannot be guaranteed.
As already mentioned, the monastery was burned by Edward I. in 1303-4;
but, according to Tytler,[164] the church escaped. Froissart, however,
narrates that in 1385 Richard II. burned the abbey and town. It is
impossible to say to what extent these devastations were carried, but we
doubt if any of the existing monastic buildings belong to an earlier
date than that last mentioned. Perhaps the south wall may be older, and
has been restored. The tracery of the refectory west window belongs to
the end of the fifteenth century. The “Pend Tower” was built after the
refectory was finished, as it abuts against the westmost buttress (as
seen in Fig. 216.) in a way it would not have done had the whole been of
one construction; also, the corner buttress has been cut away, as may be
seen at the right-hand side of Fig. 221.
William Schaw, Master of Works, besides the buildings already referred
to, erected, in 1594, certain of the immense buttresses which form such
conspicuous features in all the views of the abbey. He likewise built,
and doubtless designed, the Queen’s House, and the Bailie and
Constabulary House, shown in the plan. In connection with the latter
houses, there are considerable remains of buildings still existing (as
shown on Plan) to the north-west of the abbey, and there seems every
probability that they formed part of the structures of the abbey and of
the Queen’s House. They are extremely picturesque as seen from the low
ground to the west. (Fig. 222.) The lofty house on the right hand dates
probably
Fig. 220.—Dunfermline Abbey. Room below Kitchen.
from the end of the seventeenth century, and is a fine example of its
period. The adjoining buildings are considerably earlier, and in the
lower parts, where they are buttressed, they are probably of
pre-Reformation times. The upper portions are somewhat later, and are
very likely part of the work of Schaw. The porch to the latter buildings
is on the other side, and is quaint and well known from being seen from
the church. William Schaw died in 1602, and was buried in the nave,
where the monument to his memory (Fig. 223) was erected by order of
Queen Anne.
Fig. 221.—Dunfermline Abbey.
The palace, which was intimately connected with the abbey, has been
described elsewhere.[165]
Fig. 222.—Dunfermline Abbey. Old Buildings to North-West
of Church.
Fig. 223.—Dunfermline Abbey. Monument to William
Schaw.
In approaching Kirkwall from the sea, the chief object which meets the
view is the great mass of the cathedral. The town gradually comes into
sight, with its harbour and quays; but attention is irresistibly fixed
on the huge church, which overtops everything else.
When the quaint old streets, with the gables of the houses facing the
narrow roadway, are traversed, and the open space round the cathedral is
reached, the visitor’s admiration of the structure is by no means
diminished. He enters by one of three splendid doorways in the west end,
which recall the portals of the cathedrals of France rather than those
of England.
The first view of the interior is striking and impressive. (Fig. 224.)
The long perspective of the great round pillars and arches on each side
of the nave, surmounted by the round arched triforium and clerestory,
and the lofty roof covered with simple vaulting, give an impression of
size and height which is larger than is borne out by after measurement.
This appearance of great size has often been remarked of St. Magnus’,
and, no doubt, arises from the height and length of the edifice as
compared with its width, which between the piers is only 17 feet, while
the length of the nave is 111 feet, and the height to the apex of the
vault is about 50 feet. The cathedral is found to be complete in all its
great divisions. (Fig. 225), Plan.)[166] The nave has side aisles, which
are vaulted, and the side walls are arcaded with interlacing Norman
arches. The choir is, unfortunately, excluded by a glass screen from the
general view of the cathedral, owing to the east end being still used as
the parish church. The choir is of considerable length, being 85 feet 6
inches long by 47 feet 6 inches wide, and has main piers, triforium, and
clerestory, of about the same height as the nave. It is also vaulted,
and has vaulted side aisles. The longitudinal section (Fig. 226) shows
the comparative heights of the nave and choir.
The transept is 90 feet long by 17 feet wide, and has a great appearance
of height, but is not vaulted. It has no aisles, but has a vaulted
chapel projected to the east from each division of the transept. Fig.
227 is a section through the transept from north to south.
The choir contains six bays, and the nave eight bays.
When the exterior is examined, it is found to present at a glance a
general history of the structure, and the changes which have taken place
in it. The layers and masses of the different coloured stones which have
been used in the edifice at different times tell their own tale.
Fig. 224.—Kirkwall Cathedral. The Nave, looking West.
Fig. 225.—Kirkwall Cathedral. Ground Plan.
Fig.
228 shows the north elevation of the whole cathedral.[167] The oldest work
(which, however, comprises several periods) is constructed with dark
slaty stone, having red freestone dressings. This masonry comprises the
whole of the outer walls of the choir, the transept, and the greater
part of the nave. It is evident, however, that this style of masonry
includes not only much Norman work, with its round arches and flat
buttresses, but also some later work, which has pointed windows and
boldly-projected buttresses. The Norman work (Figs. 228 and 229) may be
observed in the transept, and several bays of the nave and choir nearest
the transept, while the pointed work is specially noticeable in the
eastern half of the choir.
In the clerestory walls of the choir (Fig. 230) great changes are
observable. The lower part of the wall, which contains the windows, is
built with dark red freestone, while the upper part is of whitish
freestone, clearly showing that the clerestory has been raised, together
with the parapet. The old line of the eaves is further apparent from the
row of Norman corbels which marks the original level before the wall was
raised. These corbels are specially visible on the north side of the
choir clerestory, but a few also remain on the south side. The new
corbel table under the parapet consists of corbels of well-known first
pointed form.
Turning to the nave, it will be observed (see Fig. 228.) that the whole
of the clerestory wall (except the two westmost bays) is built with
whitish freestone, while the windows are of small size and are pointed.
The clerestory of the nave thus corresponds with the raised part of that
of the choir in the stone used, but differs from it in the windows,
which are narrow. The parapet and corbel table of this part of the
building, and indeed throughout nearly the whole structure, are similar
to those of the choir, and in the later work have evidently been copied
from the earlier ones. In the transept the alterations are plainly seen
in the heightened portions of the north and south gables (see Figs. 229
and 230), which are carried out with red freestone ashlar, and in the
details of the upper window of the north transept and the rose window of
the south transept, which are all of a later character than the Norman
work of the lower parts of the transept. In the south transept there may
also be noticed a pointed doorway (Fig. 231) built with party-coloured
stones, which has been inserted by cutting into the old Norman arcade of
the interior. This is distinctly seen in the elevation of the interior
(Fig. 232). Probably, when this was done, the older doorway which
existed at the east end of the nave south aisle, in the usual position
for access to the cloister, was built up, the intention of having a
cloister being abandoned. Some traces of the impost of the arch of the
original doorway, carved with Norman enrichments, may still be seen.
Fig. 226.—Kirkwall Cathedral. Longitudinal Section from
West to East.
The two westmost bays of the nave (see Fig. 228.) are built almost
entirely from top to bottom with red freestone, having a slight
admixture of white stone. This indicates a considerable alteration, and
it will be found that these two bays were rebuilt at a late period, when
a new west
Fig. 227.—Kirkwall Cathedral. Section through Transept
from North to South.
Fig. 228.—Kirkwall Cathedral. North Elevation.
front was erected and the cathedral was extended westwards. It may be
mentioned that the cathedral stands alone in the middle of a large
churchyard. There are no other ecclesiastical structures connected with
it, such as cloisters or chapter house. The Bishop’s Palace,[168]
however, is not far off. It has been a fine stately edifice, but is now
greatly ruined.
Before considering more minutely the order of construction of the
cathedral, it is desirable to glance at the conditions under which it
was designed and carried out.
Under the rule of the Norsemen, in the ninth and tenth centuries, any
early symptoms of Christian influence which may have previously existed
in Orkney had died out. But after the conversion of the inhabitants of
Orkney to Christianity, about the year 1000, traces of Christian worship
became observable. The first actual Bishop of Orkney was William the
Old, who held the bishopric for sixty-six years, and died in 1168. He
must, therefore, have been consecrated in 1102. His see was first at
Birsay (see p. 135), but was removed to Kirkwall on the erection of the
cathedral in 1137-52. The Bishop of Orkney was one of the suffragans of
the metropolitan see of Throndhjeim, which was erected in 1154. It was
not till 1472 that the see was placed under the metropolitan Bishop of
St. Andrews.
The possession of the Orkneys was sometimes divided between two
relatives. In the beginning of the twelfth century two cousins, Hacon
and Magnus, shared the government; but in 1115 the latter was
treacherously slain in the island of Egilsay by Hacon, who thus obtained
the whole earldom.
Some time after, however, a new claimant for Magnus’ share arose in
Rognvald, the son of Magnus’ sister, who made a vow that if he succeeded
in establishing his claim he would erect a “stone minster” in honour of
his predecessor, St. Magnus, the latter having been canonised. Rognvald
was successful in his project, and immediately proceeded to fulfil his
vow by founding at Kirkwall a cathedral dedicated to St. Magnus.
The building was designed and superintended by the Norwegian Kol, the
father of Rognvald, who had the principal oversight of the whole work.
The relics of St. Magnus were brought from Christ’s Kirk, in Birsay, to
be deposited in the cathedral as soon as it was ready to receive them;
but in the meantime they rested in the Church of St. Olaf, an older
edifice which then existed at Kirkwall.[169]
The Cathedral of St. Magnus was thus designed and erected by a Norwegian
earl, while the bishopric was under the authority of the Norwegian
Metropolitan of Throndhjeim. It is thus practically a
Fig. 229.—Kirkwall Cathedral. View of North Transept and
Choir.
Fig. 230.—Kirkwall Cathedral. View from South-East.
Norwegian edifice, and is by far the grandest monument of the rule of
the Norsemen in Orkney.
In these circumstances, it is not to be expected that the architecture
should in every detail follow the contemporary styles which prevailed in
Fig. 231.—Kirkwall Cathedral. Doorway in South
Transept.
Britain; but it is astonishing to find how closely the earlier parts
correspond with the architecture of Normandy, which was developed by a
kindred race—the successors of Rollo and his rovers, who settled in
that country at an earlier date.
Fig. 232.—Kirkwall Cathedral. Interior of Doorway in
South Transept. The shaded voussoirs are of yellow and the remainder of
red freestone.
There can be little doubt that the Romanesque architecture which
prevailed in the North of Europe found its way at a comparatively late
Fig. 233.—Kirkwall Cathedral. View of the Crossing from
the Nave.
date into Scandinavia. The Norman form of that style would naturally
follow the same course amongst the kindred races in Norway
Fig. 234.—Kirkwall Cathedral. Choir, looking East.
and Denmark, just as it did in England and Scotland, and from Norway it
would be transplanted into Orkney. We find that the “transition” style
and pointed styles follow here a similar course to that observed in
other countries, although, no doubt, with certain modifications, such as
might be looked for at so great a distance from the centre of origin.
Sir Henry Dryden, who has given a great deal of study to Kirkwall
Cathedral, finds the differences of the architecture there as compared
with that of England so great that the usual terms in England are not
applicable; but we believe that, with some allowances, the same general
stages of progress can be observed at St. Magnus’ as in the South.
It is well known that French architects were sent for to carry out the
Cathedral of Upsala, while the architecture of the Cathedral of
Throndhjeim is English in character. A certain mixture of design is
traceable in the details of these northern structures, but the general
scope of the architecture follows that of the rest of Europe.
The Cathedral of St. Magnus was, as above mentioned, begun by Earl
Rognvald in 1137, and was, doubtless, carried on with as great
expedition as possible. It was a gigantic work to be undertaken in this
situation at the time, and difficulty arose with regard to funds. This,
however, was overcome by allowing the proprietors of lands in Orkney to
redeem their property by a single payment of a sum per acre, paid at
once, instead of according to the usual practice, on each succession.
The first parts of the cathedral built (shown by black tint on Plan)
were the three westmost or Norman bays of the choir, with their aisles,
both the transepts, the crossing (afterwards altered), intended to
receive a tower over it, and two bays of the nave, which served to form
an abutment for the crossing. These portions are all (where unaltered)
in the earliest style of Norman work in the edifice. The round piers and
responds of the choir, the two south piers and one north pier of the
nave (with their cushion caps) (Fig. 233), the main arches (with their
label mouldings in the choir and transept) (see Figs. 227 and 234), the
round arched and labelled windows in choir, transept, and nave (see Fig.
228.), and the interlaced arcades in the latter (Fig. 235), all point to
a somewhat advanced period of Norman work.
The choir originally terminated with a central apse beyond the third
pier (as shown by dotted line), but it is impossible to say whether the
side aisles also had apses, or whether the aisle was continued round the
apse.
The Norman windows of the choir aisle have three external orders, with a
label ornament in the outer order. The single shafts have cushion caps,
and the windows are largely splayed internally.
An interlacing arcade of round arches, with single shafts and cushion
caps (some with volutes), runs round the north, south, and west sides
of
Fig. 235.—Kirkwall Cathedral. The Crossing and South
Transept.
the transept. (See Fig. 235.). The large arches leading into the east
chapels were formed originally, but the chapels were built later. The
lower string course of the transept is enriched with a four-leaved
flower. (See Fig. 232.)
Fig. 236.—Kirkwall Cathedral. Doorway in the North Aisle
of Nave, &c.
It seems likely that soon after the completion of the above portions
attention was given to the continuation of the nave westwards for
several bays. The piers have the same round form as the original ones,
but the caps are no longer octagonal, but round (see Figs. 224 and 233),
and instead of the cushion form, the caps are moulded. The north
Fig. 237.—Kirkwall Cathedral. South Aisle of Nave.
aisle wall opposite the three bays, west from the crossing, would appear
to have been built early (see Figs. 228 and 229). The buttresses are of
the flat Norman form, the three eastmost windows are moulded in three
orders, with a label enrichment like the choir aisle windows, while the
two windows to the west of above, although round, have mouldings of a
first pointed character, and were, doubtless, finished at a later time
(see aisle window in Fig. 236.). In the south aisle of the nave the east
window is similar to those of the north side, but the others, extending
as far as the south doorway, have, in the interior, mouldings indicating
a more advanced date. (Fig. 237.) Externally, these windows have been
restored. There would appear to have been a good deal of time spent over
these aisle walls extending as far as the north and south doorways, and
the main piers and arches within them were probably erected at the same
period. Both of the above aisle walls have a Norman interlacing arcade
(see Fig. 237.) running along the interior below the windows. In these
arcades, and those of the transepts, various varieties of chevron
ornament occur. The north aisle doorway (see Fig. 236.) is Norman in
detail, but seems to have been restored at a late date. The interior
mouldings are similar to those of the three west doorways. The doorway
in the south aisle retains its old Norman arch and shafts in the
interior, but has been altered externally (Fig. 238). The nave piers may
have been continued as far as the above doors about this time, together
with the triforium, but the upper part of the nave walls and the
vaulting are later.
After the Norman period above described, a distinct change of style is
observable. This is prominently seen in the piers and arches of the
crossing (see Figs. 233 and 235), which are of an advanced transition
style, and appear to have been introduced in lieu of the old Norman
piers. Possibly, however, the older piers are preserved and encased in
the new. The latter (Fig. 239) are arranged in the form of clustered
shafts, approaching first pointed in plan. The bases and caps of the
shafts are of transition character, being very like those of Jedburgh
Abbey, a good transition example. Some, however, have a tendency to
foliage, but all are much damaged. The arches are in distinct orders,
like first pointed work, and the inner order of those next the nave and
choir is enriched with a large boldly relieved chevron ornament (see
Fig. 233.). The windows in the choir nearest the main arches of the
crossing, and the triforium openings into the transept, appear to have
been altered and rebuilt at the time of this operation. The upper part
of the north transept was probably raised and its windows inserted at
this time, as they are of transition character; but the raising of the
south transept and introduction of the rose window in it is of a
somewhat later date. This circular window (see Fig. 235.) is very similar
to that in the east window of the choir. The chapels on the east side of
the transept are also of the transition period. Both internally,
including the vaulting, and externally, including the pointed windows
(see Figs. 229 and 230), the work of these chapels is very advanced
transition in style. Of course, it must be understood that the style is
referred to, not the date. The transition style may not have penetrated
to Orkney till a long time after it had been abandoned further south,
possibly not till the middle of the thirteenth century. The space
between the south chapel and the choir aisle has been built up and
formed into a small vaulted chamber, which has no
Fig. 238.—Kirkwall Cathedral. South Doorway of Nave.
opening communicating with the chamber in the south chapel. It enters
from a window in the aisle changed into a door. The use of this chamber
is unknown. The large windows in the triforium of the transept,
adjoining the crossing, are cut across by the aisle roofs. This arises
from the aisle roofs having been raised at a late period. The vaulting
of the original choir, and the vaulting shafts, with their corbels (see
Section, Fig. 226.), probably also belong to the transition period.
The completion of the nave, as far as the original west wall, was
probably next undertaken. The piers (as above mentioned), although round
on plan like the original ones, have round moulded caps like those
further east. The arches over the piers were, no doubt, executed at the
Fig. 239.—Kirkwall Cathedral.
same time, and the triforium carried up. The latter consists of three
orders of plain arches, with chamfer on edge, except some on the north
side, which have a bead and fillet on edge, thus indicating a somewhat
advanced date.
It is not easy to say when the clerestory and vaulting of the nave were
executed; but, from the circumstance that the clerestory is built with
whitish stone, similar to the raised part of the clerestory of the
choir, we are inclined to believe that it was carried out about the
same period as the heightening and vaulting of the choir, to be
afterwards referred to.
Steps are introduced at the bottom of the nave triforium arches, which,
however, can scarcely be seen from below. Their object is to raise the
floor of the triforium, so as to give height for the aisle vaults.
The next alteration of the cathedral effected a complete revolution in
the eastern portion of the edifice. The apse was taken down, and the
choir, with its aisles, was extended by three bays to the eastward. (See
Fig. 234.) The junction of the extended work with the old is quite
apparent in the large pier on the left.
The style of this extension of the choir has in many points a strong
resemblance to advanced first pointed work, but it exhibits some
peculiarities of detail. The piers of the new bays consist of clustered
shafts, but the arrangement of the shafts is peculiar, having rounds and
hollows passing into one another, and with fillets on edge, more like
decorated work than first pointed. The bases are of early form, and the
caps, which generally resemble first pointed work, have also features
which recall the French “Crochet caps” of the period.
Possibly some of the Frenchmen engaged at Upsala or Throndhjeim may have
been brought over to the work at St. Magnus’, and have here left the
mark of their French extraction. Some of the caps, which have a square
abacus, have small leaves introduced at the junction of the circle with
the square—an arrangement common in bases, but very unusual in
capitals. (See Main Pier, Fig. 240.)
The main arches over the piers (see Fig. 234.) are not pointed, but
semi-circular (a form of common occurrence in Scotland). Otherwise the
sections of the mouldings, and the arrangement of the orders in distinct
divisions, are quite first pointed in style.
The triforium consists of plain chamfered semi-circular arches and jambs
in three orders, with plain impost mouldings, being a continuation of
the design of the triforium of the earlier part of the choir.
The clerestory has simple pointed windows, moulded on sconsion, but
without cusps, at the same level as the Norman windows in the western
part of the choir.
A vaulting shaft is carried up between the piers. It springs from the
pier caps, and is very small up to the triforium, where it thickens and
runs up to the triforium caps, and above that point is carried up as a
triple shaft to the cap which receives the springing of the vault.
The clerestory windows appear to have been built before the vaulting was
arranged, seeing that they are placed very low in the red part of the
wall. But when the vaulting was designed, it was found desirable to
raise the walls so as to get proper height for the arches. This was done
in whitish stone, and shows distinctly on the exterior, as above stated.
A row of Norman corbels on the north side marks the original height of
the clerestory wall. These corbels appear to have been moved from the
Norman part of the choir, and inserted in their present position when
the choir
Fig. 240.—Kirkwall Cathedral. East End of South Aisle of
Choir.
was lengthened. A few corbels remain in their original position on the
south side of the choir. The vaulting of the old part of the choir was
also altered at the time when the new vaulting was built. The design of
the extended choir aisles corresponds with that of the choir, and is
very beautiful, though somewhat foreign in character. (See Fig. 240.)
The ribs of the choir and aisle vaults have all bold sections of first
pointed form.
The east end of the cathedral is of this period. The great east window
(see Fig. 234.) fills the whole space available. This window, including
its mouldings, measures (according to Sir H. Dryden) 37 feet 2½ inches
by 16 feet 7½ inches. It is well designed, and has side shafts of first
pointed form, while the tracery is perhaps a little more advanced. The
great rose in the arch, which expands over the whole of the mullions and
arches of the tracery, is (as pointed out by Sir H. Dryden) quite
peculiar and unique. The three-arched recesses under the east window
indicate that the altar stood free from the wall. On the exterior, the
junction of the new buttresses with the old Norman ones is distinctly
seen. (See Fig. 230.) The former are of red freestone, and project with
water tables in stages, while the latter are flat and shallow. The side
windows have plain splays in the jambs, and have no caps, one
round-headed window on the south side has two lights, and a doorway is
formed beneath it. A large base course goes round the choir and marks
the new work. It is also continued round the transept chapels at a lower
level. Besides the raising of the clerestory walls, above referred to,
the aisle walls of the choir have also been raised. On the north side
(see Fig. 229.) this is effected by leaving the old parapet and building
a second parapet above it, while on the south side (see Fig. 230.) the
old parapet has been removed and the wall heightened with red ashlar,
and a new parapet placed at the higher level. Several square windows
have been cut in the lower part of the north choir wall. These are
modern, and are not shown in the sketch. Their object is to admit light
under a gallery which has been inserted in the north aisle. The floor of
the choir has been raised, and is now reached by several steps from the
transept; but the steps to the sanctuary are believed to have been where
shown on the plan. As already mentioned, the clerestory and vaulting of
the six eastmost bays of the nave was probably executed soon after the
choir was finished, the outer wall of the clerestory being built with
the same whitish stone as the heightened part of the choir. The windows
are small and of plain-pointed form, like those of the choir. Some of
them have the appearance of having been cut up into the vaulting, as if
they had been inserted or heightened after the vaulting was built. It is
to be remarked that while the parapets of the nave and choir are on the
same level on the exterior, the vaulting of the nave is several feet
lower than that of the choir.
The three western doorways (Fig. 241) and the pointed doorway in the
south transept (see Fig. 231.) must be assigned to a period rather later
than the choir. The wall containing the three west doorways is built
out
Fig. 241.—Kirkwall Cathedral. West Doorways.
of the square with the nave walls. It is supposed to have been erected
outside the church, with the view of lengthening it, while the original
west front stood at a point distant one bay from it. The new west wall
seems to have been left unfinished for a considerable time, the upper
part of the west front having, from its style, evidently been built at a
much later period than the doorways. When the new west wall was
completed, the old west front would be removed. This necessitated the
building of the westmost pair of piers. While this operation was in
progress, the next pair of piers and arch above have yielded, and the
piers remain much inclined to the west.
Fig. 242.—Kirkwall Cathedral. Interior of West
Doorways.
The three west doorways and that in the south transept are specially
remarkable from their presenting probably the finest examples in Great
Britain of the use of coloured stones in the construction. This is
chiefly observable in the exterior, but is also carried out in the
interior of these doorways (Fig. 242). The north doorway (Fig. 245) and
central doorway (Fig. 244) of the west front have the colours arranged
in concentric rings in the arches, red and yellow alternating. In the
south doorway (Fig. 243) the same colours radiate and alternate, and in
the doorway of the south transept the red and yellow stones are arranged
chequerwise. (See Fig. 231.) Fig. 246 shows the plan of the central
doorway.
Fig. 243.—Kirkwall Cathedral. Plan and Elevation of
South Doorway of West End.
Fig. 244.—Kirkwall Cathedral. Elevation at Central
Doorway of West End.
Fig. 245.—Kirkwall Cathedral. Plan and Elevation of
North Doorway of West End.
Fig. 245.—Kirkwall Cathedral. Plan and Elevation of
North Doorway of West End.
The shafts have all been detached, as shown in the plans. They have been
renewed; but, as Sir H. Dryden suggests, no doubt correctly, they were
probably at first in red and yellow stone alternately.
The caps have been very elaborately carved with foliage, which is now
much decayed. It looks later than the enrichments of the arches, which
consist of early ornaments, such as the dog-tooth and chevron, much
undercut. These enrichments, and the foliage which ran up the jambs of
the doorway, are now greatly decayed, especially the portions carved in
the yellow stone. In the case of the south transept doorway, the
stonework, which is much wasted, has been roughly repaired with cement.
The central doorway has five orders of mouldings, and the north and
south doorways four orders. The south transept doorway has also four
orders.
Fig. 246.—Kirkwall Cathedral. Plan of Central Doorway of
West End.
Notwithstanding the damage they have sustained, these doorways are still
amongst the most charming portions of the edifice; and, as regards the
coloured decoration of their masonry, they stand almost alone in this
country.
In the interior the west doorways and responds of piers (Fig. 242) are
constructed with alternate bands of red and yellow stone, and the
sconsion moulding is enriched with a ball ornament. The sconsion of the
doorway of the north nave aisle has a similar enrichment, showing that
it must have been restored at a late date, as already mentioned.
The buttresses between the west doorways are, so far as original, also
carried up in alternate red and yellow courses. (See Fig. 241.) The
upper part of the gablet over the centre doorway is of the seventeenth
century, and bears the shield of Sir George Hay of Kinfauns, who rented
the lands of the bishopric in the beginning of the seventeenth century.
A crozier is added to the shield in connection with the lands of the
see. (See enlarged sketch in Fig. 244.)
The upper part of the west front is of late construction, having
probably been carried out when the two west bays of the nave were built.
These bays, as above mentioned, were added to the cathedral at a late
period, and are almost entirely built with red freestone. The piers are
designed in imitation of the old nave piers, but the caps and bases have
different mouldings, and the plinth of the base is round, while that of
the older bases is square. (See Fig. 242.)
The triforium and clerestory are also constructed in imitation of the
older parts of the nave. The three west bays of the nave and two bays of
the aisles remained without vaulting till they were covered with the
present wooden vaults, when the building was repaired by the Government
in 1848.
The aisle windows in these bays are narrow, and have trefoiled cusped
heads, being the only cusping in the cathedral (see Fig. 236.), except
those in the large round windows.
The parapet of the north side of the nave is evidently a very late piece
of work. It is supported on large trefoil ornaments, or inverted
fleurs-de-lys, cut square into the wall, without chamfer or moulding.
(See Fig. 236.)
This ornament extends along the six eastmost bays of the nave, the two
westmost bays having a plain parapet on the same level. On the south
side of the nave the aisle wall has been raised with red ashlar (like
the choir south wall), and an ordinary parapet placed above it.
The buttresses in the west part of the north side of the nave are of a
late pattern, with two set-offs, and those on the south side of the nave
have been repaired and altered.
In the south side of the nave a new exterior doorway (see Fig. 238.) has
been substituted for the old Norman doorway, the shafts and arch of the
latter remaining in the interior. The new doorway is said to have been
inserted by Bishop Reid in the sixteenth century. This is the same
Bishop whom we meet with as Prior of Beauly and Abbot of Kinloss
(q.v.)
The doorway has the late form of a three-sided arch, and the mouldings
are those common at the period (sixteenth century). In the centre of the
lintel is the shield for a coat of arms, now obliterated, but a mitre is
still traceable. A benitier adjoins the doorway, and there seems to have
been a wooden porch or awning over it.
The tower over the crossing (see Fig. 230.) has been considerably
operated upon in modern times. The old wooden spire was destroyed by
lightning in 1671, and the tower consequently required repairs. The
parapet and pinnacles are modern, as also the pointed and slated roof;
but the lower part seems to be of considerable age (see Section, Fig.
227.). The part within the roof of the church is apparently of transition
date, and the upper part, with the large pointed windows, is probably of
fifteenth century work.
An unusually wide wheel stair leads from the north-west and south-west
angles of the transept to the upper parts of the edifice. These stairs
are connected with passages which circulate all round the clerestory and
triforium in the thickness of the walls (Fig. 247), and give access to
every part of the building. They also pass round the tower at each
story, and are connected with small wheel stairs in the angles, by one
of which access is obtained to the roof.
There would appear to have been, at one time, numerous fine monuments in
the cathedral, but they have all disappeared.
An arched recess, with a gablet over it, in the south nave aisle (see
Fig. 237.) is now empty, but is supposed, by Sir H. Dryden, to have been
erected for some member of the family of the Strathernes, Earls of
Orkney.
The altar tomb of Bishop Tulloch, who died soon after 1455, stood
between the two eastmost pillars of the choir. It was a handsome
erection, and appears to have had a canopy, but not a fragment now
exists. A stone cist was discovered between the two east piers of the
choir (north side) during the repairs in 1848. It contained a skeleton
doubled up, and an ivory crozier and a plate of lead inscribed, “Hic
requiescit Wilialmus senex felicis memorie,” and on the back “primus
episcopus.” Bishop William the old died in 1168. The cist and bones were
carted away with the rubbish in 1856, but the ivory staff handle and the
lead plate are preserved in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries at
Edinburgh.
Numerous slabs, with inscriptions of the seventeenth century, have been
erected against the nave walls.
At one time the cathedral possessed some fine specimens of woodwork. The
canopy over the Bishop’s throne (shown by Billings) has now disappeared.
The alms dishes, which are of brass, 2 feet 5 inches diameter, are of
Dutch workmanship of the seventeenth century. They are large and fine of
their kind.
The tower contains four bells. Three of these were given by Bishop
Maxwell. The great bell (3 feet 5½ inches diameter and 2 feet 9 inches
high) has, on a raised shield, the Bishop’s arms, a saltier, with
annulet in centre, and under it “NLTAS.” Also the following
inscription:—“Made by Master Robbert Maxvell, Bischop of Orkney the
yaer of God MDXXVIII the year of the reign of King James the V., Robert
Borthwik made mein the castel of Edinbrugh.” There is also in a
medallion, containing in seven lines, the following:—“Taken et brought
againe heir by Alexander Geddus marchant in Kirkwa and recasten at
Amsterdam Jully 1682 years by Claudius Fremy city bell caster. It weighs
1450 P.” On a medallion, a figure with a sword, and, under it SCT
MAGNVS. The latter inscription shows that this bell was sent to
Amsterdam
Fig. 247.—Kirkwall Cathedral. Plan at Level of
Clerestory.
to be recast, which was required, in consequence of a crack or rift
having occurred in it.
The second bell (3 feet 1 inch diameter and 2 feet 5 inches high) bears
the following inscription in black letters:—“Maid be maister robert
maxvell bischop of Orknay in ye secund yier of his consecration in the
zier of god Im Vc XXVIII zeiris ye XV zier of ye reign of King James V.”
On a medallion is a figure with a sword, and, under it, “Sanctus
Magnus.” Below, “robert borthvik.” Also, on a medallion, the arms of
Scotland, and on another, the arms of Maxwell, and on another part,
“Ihs.”
The first bell is 2 feet 9 inches diameter and 2 feet 5 inches high. The
inscription, in black letters, raised in three lines, is, “Maid be
maister robert maxvel byschop of Orknay, ye secund zeir of his
consecration ye zeir of gode Im Vc XXVIII zeirs ye XV zeir of Kyng James
y V. be robert borthvik maid al thre in ye castel of Edynbrugh.” There
are also, on a medallion, a figure of St. Magnus, on a shield the arms
of Maxwell, as before, and on another part, “Ihs.” Robert Borthwick,
above mentioned, was master gunner to King James IV.
The fourth bell is small (1 foot 8 inches diameter and 1 foot 4 inches
high), and is not hung. (See description of St. Magnus by Sir Henry E.
L. Dryden, Bart.)
The fabric of the cathedral does not appear to have suffered at the time
of the Reformation, but in 1606 an attempt was made by the Earl of
Caithness to destroy it. This happened during the rebellion of E.
Patrick Stewart, who had taken possession of the Tower, and used it as a
place of strength. The demolition was, however, prevented by the
intervention of Bishop Law.
The building would appear, in 1701, to have received very improper usage
at the hands of the Town Guard, who occupied it as a public place,
shooting guns and “drinking, fiddling, piping, swearing and cursing
night and day” within the church, and so rendering it unfit for public
worship. Great repairs were required in the early part of this century,
and the Government, under the belief that the cathedral was Crown
property, expended a good deal of money in putting it in good condition
in 1848. It was afterwards discovered that the building belonged to the
town, when the local authorities took possession of it and replaced in
the choir the galleries which had been removed. The choir still
continues to be used as the parish church.
This interesting ruin stands in a remote valley near the south end of
the island of Bute, being about three miles south from the parish church
of Kingarth. The site is at a considerable elevation, and commands a
fine view of the hills of Arran to the south. A lofty and precipitous
wooded hill shelters the valley from the northwards. The building stands
on a slightly elevated platform, enclosed with a retaining wall. This
enclosure forms an upper churchyard, while another enclosure below it
forms a lower churchyard. In former times the upper burial-ground was
reserved for men, and the lower one for women.
At first sight the structure at once impresses one as being a Norman
building (Fig. 248), from the style of the masonry of the lofty central
wall and the east end, which stand out prominently from amongst the
ruins. On closer inspection, the church is found to consist (Fig. 249)
of an oblong nave, 50 feet 6 inches in length internally by 16 feet 8
inches in width, and a chancel, 26 feet 3 inches long by 13 feet 11
inches wide, separated by the lofty wall above referred to. The latter
contains a chancel arch, 5 feet 3 inches in width.
The masonry of the nave is undoubtedly Norman, being in courses of
carefully-dressed freestone, with upright joints all breaking band. The
west wall has, on account of the slope of the ground, been brought up
from a depth of several feet below the level of the floor, and the lower
portion is thickened, and has exterior set-offs about the floor level. A
base of peculiar form is carried round the building. (See Figs. 248 and
249.) The side and west walls are now reduced to a few feet in height,
and there thus remains no trace of any windows. There have been two
entrance doorways, opposite one another, in the north and south walls
near the west end, of which only some fragments remain.
The chancel arch (Fig. 250) is of good Norman design. On the side next
the nave it is in two orders, the inner order having a simple linear or,
perhaps, bird’s-beak enrichment, and the outer order is enriched with
two series of chevrons, one on the face and the other on the soffit,
which leave on the angle a raised lozenge form between them. The arch is
enclosed with a label of three-sided section, enriched with a lozenge
pattern, and having a small Greek cross in the centre of the arch. Each
order rests on the cap of a shaft, the inner shafts being half-rounds,
and the outer shafts complete cylinders set in nooks; but these shafts
have now disappeared. The caps vary in design, but are of good Norman
character.
The bases are much decayed. The abacus of the shafts forms a string
course, which was continued round the interior of the nave. It is carved
with a saltier-like ornament. A similar string course probably ran round
the exterior of the nave. The side of the arch next the chancel is
plain, the outer order only having a simple roll on the edge. (See Fig.
248.) The central wall between the nave and chancel is in good
preservation, and is carried up with freestone courses resembling the
ashlar work of the nave; but the work is coarse, and has probably been
rebuilt. Three buttresses, built with whinstone, have been erected at a
late period against the south wall of the nave, which seems to have
shown signs of weakness.
Fig. 248. St. Blane’s Church. From North-East.
The Norman masonry of the nave extends both on the north and south sides
for about 13 feet into the chancel, when it stops suddenly against a
whinstone wall. A fragment of the Norman string course is traceable on
the exterior of the north wall at the west end, and the same base as
that of the nave runs along this Norman part of the chancel. There are
the remains of a doorway in the south wall.
The remainder or eastern portions of the side walls of the choir are
composed in their lower part of whinstone rubble work (both on the
exterior and interior), while the upper portions of the side walls are
built with freestone, similar to that used in the nave, but executed
with very inferior workmanship, especially as regards the jointing and
coursing of
Fig. 249.—St. Blane’s Church. Plan.
the stones. The lower rubble portions of the side walls contain no
openings, but the upper freestone portions contain windows. The window
in the north wall (see Fig. 248.) is a single-pointed light, with
freestone ingoings and sconsion arch. There has at one time been a
similar one-light window in the south wall, but at a later date a
two-light window has been introduced instead of it. The latter being
placed at a higher level than the former, part of the older window still
remains below the sill of the later one. The older windows in the side
walls are moulded on the jambs; the later one is splayed. A piscina has
also been inserted in the south wall close to the window.
The eastern wall of the chancel, like the east portions of the side
walls, has the lower part built with whinstone rubble, and the upper
portion with freestone. As the ground slopes to the east, the east end
wall is carried deeper than the side walls. The lower portion (which
extends also for a short way along the north and south sides) is brought
up with whinstone rubble for about two feet (see Fig. 248.), when a
Fig. 250.—St. Blane’s Church. Chancel Arch.
freestone splayed base (quite different from, and at a lower level than,
that of the nave) is laid above it. The wall over the base is carried up
in the interior with whinstone rubble for nearly four feet (see Fig.
250.), and on the exterior with rubble mixed with freestone for two
courses. Above this the wall is built in the interior for two courses,
and in the exterior for four courses, with carefully-constructed and
jointed freestone blocks, similar to those of the nave walls. A set-off
occurs on the exterior above these courses. The upper part of the wall
and the exterior of the gable are composed of freestone, built
irregularly, like the upper portions of the side walls. The upper
portion of the interior is of similar work up to the top of the windows,
above which it is of rubble work.
In the east wall there are two single-light pointed windows, similar to
the window in the north wall. They have the same mouldings, and similar
sconsion arches. The inner sills are stepped in three courses. An ambry
is inserted in the east wall.
There is some difficulty in explaining the sequence of the construction,
and the comparative dates of all the different portions of the chancel.
In a paper by Mr. William Galloway, in the Archæologia Scotica, Vol.
V. p. 217, a very interesting and ingenious theory is propounded
thereanent. It is there supposed that the whinstone rubble work is
actually a portion of an ancient chapel erected at a very early date,
and that the Norman work was built around it, in order, so far as
possible, to preserve the venerable remains of the primitive structure.
This, it is pointed out, would explain the finely coursed work which
occurs above the rubble work on the exterior and interior of the east
end wall and adjoining portions of the north and south walls. As regards
the inferior freestone work of the upper part of the walls, it is
assumed that these are the result of an alteration which took place in
the thirteenth century.
If this theory were correct, it would enhance very greatly the interest
of the structure, not only by the extreme antiquity it would assign to
it, but also by proving the great veneration with which it was regarded,
and the unusual tenderness with which it was treated by the twelfth
century builders.
It must, however, be confessed that an inspection of the building does
not tend to confirm the theory. Several points arise which do not appear
to be met by it, such as—(1) How does the splayed freestone base of the
east end happen to be laid in the middle of the rubble work? Such a base
is practically unknown in ancient Celtic structures. (2) On the north
wall of the choir a string course and moulded base exist in the Norman
portion, and have apparently run along the outside. Would these simply
be butted against the supposed ancient rubble work, or how would they be
terminated? (3) Is it at all consistent with the usual action of Norman
builders to leave small fragments of ancient rubble work and incorporate
them in their structures? Or was it not, on the contrary, their
invariable practice to remove such early work? Is it not more reasonable
to suppose that the different styles of work which are seen here are
the result of alterations and repairs? A study of the building itself
certainly tends to strengthen that impression. After a careful
inspection of the structure, one feels it impossible to believe that the
different portions of the work were other than the result of alteration
and patching. It is admitted that the matter is rather puzzling; but we
venture to make the following suggestions as to the history of the
building.
The chancel was probably all built originally in the Norman style of its
existing west half. Some accident overtook it, and the east half was
demolished. In rebuilding it whinstone rubble work was chiefly used, but
a splayed freestone base course was inserted, where it still remains.
The Norman-like courses above the rubble work were derived from the old
materials of the demolished Norman portion, and were reused without
alteration, as nearly as possible, in the same manner as originally.
It is generally supposed that the imperfect work of the upper portions
of the walls is of thirteenth century date, but it is more probably much
later. The irregular and inferior workmanship alone seems to prove that,
and the windows are of a form which might belong to any date. The
sconsion arches are not unlike those of the church at Rothesay, which is
not earlier than the end of the fifteenth century.
This edifice is the completest of our Norman parish churches, consisting
(Fig. 251) of a chancel with eastern apse and a nave or main building,
separated from the chancel by an elaborate chancel arch. As usual in
parish churches of this period, there are no aisles. Although the above
divisions are complete, the church has not entirely escaped alterations
and additions. On the north side projecting wings have been added, which
contain a gallery and a north porch, and staircase leading to the
gallery. The south front and east end are, however, almost untouched,
and show the work of the twelfth century, uninjured save by natural
decay.
The church stands beside the quiet and pleasant rural village of
Dalmeny, about one mile inland from South Queensferry, and about eight
miles west from Edinburgh. Little is known of its history. A charter is
signed by Robert Avenel, “parson of Dumanie,” about 1166-82, and in the
thirteenth century, during the reign of William or Alexander II., the
church was granted to the monks of Jedworth. It is believed to have been
dedicated to St. Adamnan,[170] and the fact of the neighbouring church
of Cramond being dedicated to St. Columba tends to confirm this belief,
as it has been pointed out by Dr. Skene that these two saints’ names
are generally found together in the dedication of churches.
The edifice consists of a nave 42 feet long by 18 feet wide, with a
projection in the south wall, which contains the doorway. It has three
small windows in the south wall. In the interior of the south wall there
is a recess, now linteled over, which may have contained a monument.
Fig. 251.—Dalmeny Church. Plan.
From the rough nature of the masonry at the west end of the nave, a
tower would appear to have been intended to be built there. Part of the
commencement of its side walls exists, and into these the two buttresses
shown on Plan have been toothed or joined at a later period.
The nave (Fig. 252) opens to the chancel with a splendid chancel arch,
having three orders decorated with elaborate chevron ornaments, enclosed
with a hood moulding carved with an enrichment somewhat resembling the
dog-tooth (Fig. 253). The soffit of the arch contains a similar faceted
enrichment. The arch is carried on three attached shafts on each side,
built in ashlar, and provided with subdivided cushion caps and plain
bases.
The chancel (Fig. 254) is 16 feet long by 15 feet wide, and is vaulted
with bold diagonal groin-ribs, enriched with chevron ornaments and
springing from grotesque corbels (Fig. 255). It has one small window on
the south side, with plain splay in the ingoing and plain sconsions and
arch.
The apse is semi-circular, and is entered from the chancel by an
Fig. 252.—Dalmeny Church. Nave, looking East.
enriched arch (see Fig. 254.). The arch has two orders carved with
chevron ornaments and a hood mould with faceted enrichment. The shafts
and caps are similar to those of the chancel arch. The apse is vaulted
like a single square bay, with boldly moulded groin-ribs springing from
large corbels carved with grotesque heads (Figs. 256 and 257). The wall
is of
Fig. 254.—Dalmeny Church. View of Apse from Chancel.
plain ashlar, and the apse is lighted by three plain window openings
(Fig. 258), the central one of which has been enlarged.
The exterior of the church (Fig. 259) is built with the usual cubic
ashlar of the period. All the windows in the building (Fig. 260) have a
single pair of shafts with cushion or carved caps, and an arch, of one
order, carved with chevron ornament, and a hood mould enriched with
faceted patterns. The choir and apse have a boldly projected cornice
supported on corbels carved with grotesque heads. The choir has the side
walls carried up in the form of a parapet above the cornice, having
evidently been raised at some period to the same height externally as
the nave. A string course runs round the building immediately below the
windows, of which it forms the sills. It is enriched with a carved
floral pattern.
The doorway (Fig. 261) is placed in a projecting part of the south wall,
and is surmounted by an arcade of interlacing arches, with corbel course
above, carved with grotesque heads.
The doorway has two nook shafts on each side, the outer one round
Fig. 255.—Dalmeny Church. Corbels.
and the inner one octagonal. These are detached and in single stones.
They carry enriched caps, three of them having foliage and volutes
imitated from the Roman, and one with traces of an animal. A string
course, enriched with scrolls, forms an abacus above the caps, and from
the abacus spring the arch mouldings in two orders, with carved hood
mould beyond.
The inner order of arches contains thirteen voussoirs, each of which is
sculptured with a figure. These figures (Fig. 262) are very similar to
those often found on the ancient sculptured monuments of Scotland, and
have also considerable analogy with the figures carved on the Norman
churches of England and on the Continent, thus indicating (as pointed
out in the Introduction) the connection between the former and the
latter. Commencing at the right-hand voussoir of the inner order, we
have (No. 1) a clear representation of the Agnus Dei, bearing the cross
in sign of victory; No. 2 seems to represent a serpent, possibly with a
human head; No. 3 represents a winged quadruped with a bird’s head; No.
4, a lion (a favourite emblem both in Norman work and Scottish
monuments); Nos. 5 and 6 are too much decayed to be intelligible; No. 7
seems
Fig. 256.—Dalmeny Church. View from the Apse, looking
West.
to be a hare running and an animal with scrolled tail at rest; No. 8, a
winged bird and serpent; No. 9, a winged dragon with tail passing into a
divided scroll, part of which it is biting with its bill; No. 10, a
winged griffin; No. 11, a bird with a fish’s tail pecking at a serpent;
No. 12, two
Fig. 257.—Dalmeny Church.
seated human figures clasping hands; No. 13, a nondescript bird and
serpent.
Fig. 258.—Window in Apse.
The outer order of the arch contains eight projecting heads of grotesque
form, but some of them much decayed. Alternating with these heads are
voussoirs carved with figures somewhat similar to those of the inner
order. These, so far as can be made out, are—No. 1, a man with a pair
of horses; No. 2, a lion, perhaps crowned; No. 3 seems to represent a
number of darts radiating from a centre; No. 4, a centaur or Sagittarius
shooting an arrow at an undefined object; No. 5, two seated
Fig. 259.—Dalmeny Church. From South-East.
figures, one holding a spear or pastoral staff. At each side of the
arch, and resting on the string course, are two detached figures, which
recall the figures similarly placed at Whithorn Priory. That on the
right represents a man holding a spear, that on the left, although
apparently a human figure, is too far gone to be clearly made out.
This doorway is particularly interesting from being, as we believe, the
only example in Scotland of similar well-preserved sculptures upon a
church. In England, as pointed out by Mr. Romilly Allen, sculpture
Fig. 260.—Dalmeny Church. Window in Nave and Choir.
of this description is common on Norman structures after 1135,
especially on doorways and fonts. It is difficult to form an idea of the
meaning of many of these sculptured figures, occurring, as they do, in
the strangest juxtaposition. On this point Mr. Romilly Allen
observes[171] that “one of the most remarkable features in Norman
sculpture is the way in which the Agnus Dei is associated with what
appears to us to be the most incongruous surroundings, such as animals,
serpents, and a bird at Parwich in Derbyshire; animals and a figure
holding a pastoral staff at Hagnaston in Derbyshire; a tree with birds
and Sagittarius and Leo at Stoke Subhampton in Somersetshire, &c.” Such
descriptions would well apply
Fig. 261.—Dalmeny Church. Doorway.
to the doorway of Dalmeny Church, where we have associated with the
Agnus Dei, Leo, Sagittarius, serpents, birds, dragons, and human
figures, one, perhaps, bearing a pastoral staff.
Numerous similar figures may be also seen on the sculptured monuments
Fig. 262.—Dalmeny Church. Figures on Inner and Outer
Orders of Doorway Arch.
of Scotland, and thus a connection is observed between these remarkable
erections and the sculpture of Norman buildings, which brings the
earlier monuments into close connection with the later, and provides
them a place in the general history of art in the country. Sculptures of
a similar description have, at one time, existed at Dunfermline and
Jedburgh, but they are now too far wasted away to be intelligible.
Situated four and a half miles from St. Andrews, and one mile from
Leuchars Railway Junction, this church, like that of Dalmeny, forms one
of the best-preserved examples of our parish churches of the Norman
period. Though not complete, like Dalmeny, the choir and apse of
Leuchars, which alone remain, are even more richly decorated with the
Fig. 263.—Leuchars Church. Plan.
characteristic ornaments of the style than the former. As usual, the
church is without aisles.
It is scarcely possible to ascertain the date of these early structures,
but we find from the registry of the Priory of St. Andrews that the
Ecclesia de Lochres existed in the year 1187. There are letters by
Orabile, Countess of Mar, attesting that she was present when her
father,
Fig. 264.—Leuchars Church. View from North-East.
Nes, the son of William, gave the Church of Leuchars, in Fife (Lochres),
to the Canons of St. Andrews, 1171-1199.
Orabile was married to Robert de Quinci. Between 1210 and 1219 Syer de
Quinci, Earl of Winchester, gave to the Canons of St. Andrews three
merks of silver yearly from his mill of Leuchars for the souls of his
Fig. 265.—Leuchars Church. 1. Details of Apse. 2.
Details of Choir. 3. Corbel in Apse.
grandfather and grandmother, of his father, Robert de Quinci, and his
mother, Orabile.[172]
The church (Fig. 263) now consists of a choir, 19 feet 9 inches long by
18 feet wide, with a circular apse, 12 feet 6 inches wide and 12 feet
deep. There are traces of an arch at the west end of the choir, which
opened into the nave; but the latter is now rebuilt.
Fig. 266.—Leuchars Church. Interior of Apse.
The general view (Fig. 264) shows the exterior of the semi-circular
apse, with its arcade of two stories, the shafts of the upper tier
resting on the arches of the lower one, and all the shafts bearing
cushion caps. Those of the lower story are double shafts, and those of
the upper story are double
Fig. 267.—Leuchars Church. Exterior of Choir, &c.
shafts, with a broad fillet between them. All the arches are enriched
with chevron and billet mouldings, and the upper tier has an extra order
of elaborate billet-work. The string course between the two arcades is
carved with zig-zags (Fig. 265). The cornice is supported on a series of
boldly-carved grotesque heads, all varying in design.
On the top of the apse vault there has been built, in the seventeenth
century, an incongruous turret, which, although not of bad design, is
extremely out of place. To support this belfry, a plain arch has been
introduced in the interior amongst the Norman work of the apse. (Fig.
266.)
The design of the exterior of the choir (Fig. 267) is similar to that of
the apse, there being two arcades, one above the other, surmounted by a
cornice, with corbels carved as grotesque heads. The lower arcade,
however, has interlacing arches (see Fig. 265.), which indicate a late
period of the style. The two arcades are separated by a string course,
enriched with scroll floral ornament.
In the interior (see Fig. 266.) attention is drawn to the elaborate
carving of the chancel arch, which has two orders of complex chevron
ornament, and an outer order or hood mould of four rows of billets. The
soffit of the arch is also enriched with chevrons, so arranged as to
form a row of lozenge ornaments in the centre. The chancel arch is
carried on a central attached shaft and two plain nook shafts, built in
courses, with simple cushion caps and plain bases.
The chancel is vaulted with heavy moulded groins, springing from the
cushion caps of short single shafts resting on grotesque heads. (See
Fig. 265.) A small window is introduced in each of the divisions formed
by the shafts, and each window has a pair of nook shafts in the interior
and enriched arch above. The lower part of the apse is plain, and is
separated from the upper part by a string course, enriched with faceted
ornaments.
There exist in Berwickshire the remains of a number of Norman churches
which, unfortunately, are very fragmentary. This is the more to be
regretted, as the portions still remaining of some of them show that
they must have been equal, if not superior, in richness of detail to
most of the better preserved specimens in other parts of the country.
The fragments at Edrom and Legerwood are of the finest Norman
architecture, while the extreme simplicity of the work at Bunkle seems
to indicate that it is very early in the style. At Chirnside and St.
Helen’s but little is left; indeed, the latter is now almost only a
memory of the past.[173]
The numerous remains of Norman parish churches scattered throughout
Berwickshire point to the direction from which the Roman influence
gradually spread over the country.
Amongst these fragments, the small piece of Bunkle Church (Fig. 268)
which survives is one of the earliest. It is situated about 4½ miles
north-west from Chirnside Station, on the Duns Branch Railway, and
stands in the immediate neighbourhood of the fragmentary ruins of
Fig. 268.—Bunkle Church. Plan and View of Apse.
Bunkle Castle. The building appears to have been entire till about 1820,
when it was demolished, and the materials used in the erection of the
existing parish church, which adjoins it. Only the semi-circular apse,
with the arch leading into it, remains of what was the original parish
church. The building is extremely plain, and Mr. Muir[174] suggests
that it may be of even earlier than twelfth century date. The apse is
about 11 feet in width, and projects 7 feet internally. It has a small
round-headed window to the north-east, and another to the south-east,
but none to the east. These windows are placed high, and are 18 inches
wide on the outside, and are widely splayed inwards. Adjoining the
south-east window are the remains of a piscina, about 14 inches square
by 11 inches high. The entrance to the apse from the choir is preserved.
It is 7 feet 6 inches in width, and 7 feet 10 inches high to the
springing of the arch. The wall is 3 feet in thickness. The jambs are
plain, and the semi-circular arch is also plain, having one deep
square-edged order extending the full thickness of the wall. The impost
is a simple fascia, with a small splay on the under edge. The apse is
vaulted with a plain semidome similar to that of St. Margaret’s Chapel
in Edinburgh Castle, and the roof is formed with overlapping stones. A
few stones are observable in the walls of the new church which are
carved with zigzag ornaments, and were, doubtless, derived from the old
building.
Of the ancient parish church of Edrom, situated about one mile from
Edrom Railway Station, there still survives a Norman doorway of
beautiful workmanship. (Fig. 269.)[175] It has been preserved by being
made the entrance to a burial vault at the west end of the church. This
doorway (Fig. 270) is one of the finest of the style in Scotland, and is
of considerable size, being 11 feet high and 4 feet 8 inches wide. It
has two shafts (one of them a nook shaft) in each jamb, and the ashlar
work of the wall forms the support of the outer order. The arch contains
three orders, all elaborately carved with Norman enrichments. The inner
enrichment (Fig. 271) consists of a series of chevrons; the central
order is also ornamented with two sets of chevrons, arranged so as to
form lozenge shapes between them, which are filled with delicate
carvings. The outer order contains a repeating ornament, arranged in
squares, and the whole is enclosed with a small label carved with a
delicately foliaged ornament.
The caps of the shafts are somewhat remarkable. Fig. 271 shows those of
each side. The cushion caps and the elaborately carved scrolls of the
left central cap correspond with ordinary Norman work, but the peculiar
and twisted serpent-like forms of the right jamb are remarkable.
It is not quite clear that the doorway is in its original state. There
are three capitals on each side, only two of which have shafts. It is
not unlikely that the remaining two capitals had either shafts or some
kind of decoration continued to the base, as at Iffley or Middleton;
Stoney,
Fig. 269.—Edrom Church. Norman Doorway.
Oxfordshire; or Kirkham Priory, Yorkshire (see Parker’s Glossary). It
is also probable that the opening was square-headed, and the tympanum
filled with a shield, as at Abercorn and Linton.
The lands and church of Edenham, with Nisbet, were granted to
Fig. 270.—Edrom Church. Doorway.
St. Cuthbert’s monks by Gospatrick, Earl of Dunbar, and confirmed, in
1139, by David I. The investiture is in favour of the Prior of
Coldingham.
Fig. 271.—Edrom. Caps of Shafts.
Fig. 272.—Edrom. Angle Buttresses.
Fig. 273.—Edrom. Arms on Buttress.
Fig. 274.—Edrom. Shield on Aisle.
An aisle of some interest is attached to the church. It contains in a
panel occupying the position of a niche on one of the buttresses a
modern inscription giving the history of the aisle, viz.:—“Founded by
Robert Blackadder, Archbishop of Glasgow, in the year 1499.” The only
portions of the aisle still preserved which are of any interest are the
two angle buttresses (Fig. 272). Both of these have had niches with
canopies and corbels for supporting figures. The canopy of one is gone,
but a sundial occupies its place. The archbishop’s arms and initials
(Fig. 273) are carved on the buttress. His family name is derived from a
place of the same designation in the parish. Another shield (Fig. 274),
with arms almost obliterated, occurs a little further west.
Fig. 276.—Legerwood Church. Window.
Legerwood stands in the hilly region, about four miles north-east from
Earlston Station. The parish church is old, and has been often repaired.
Attached to it, but entirely cut off by a wall, are the roofless
Fig. 275.—Legerwood Church. Plan.
ruins of the original Norman chancel (Fig. 275), which is complete, and
measures internally 17 feet 4 inches square. It is fairly preserved, and
contains some good Norman work. The chancel arch is entire, but is
partly concealed on the face with plaster, and the ingoing is entirely
hidden by the stone wall, which separates the chancel from the church.
There is a 10 inch diameter round shaft in each internal angle, which is
continued up as high as the walls, but there are no indications of
vaulting. A small round-headed window, 9 inches wide, is introduced in
the centre of the east and north sides (Fig. 276), and apparently a
doorway has existed in the south wall. The chancel arch has been large,
being about 14 feet 8 inches wide, including the columns, and is
enriched with shafts and carving; but, unfortunately, it is so built up
that only portions are visible. The caps and mouldings, so far as they
can be seen, are shown in Fig. 277. The
Fig. 277.—Legerwood Church. Caps.
ornament consists largely of square facets, with various forms of
sinkings. A small recess, 11 inches deep, 15 inches wide, and 17 inches
high, which occurs in the north wall, is
Fig. 278.—Legerwood Church. Recess in North Wall.
shown in Fig. 278. It has not been fitted with a door.
Masons’ marks are distinctly chiselled on the stones of the chancel.
Throughout the chancel there are clear indications of coloured
decorations, consisting of a cross or star in red on a circularly-shaped
ground of white. Fig. 278 shows one on the wall, and another in the
recess.
Till the Reformation the Church of Legerwood belonged to Paisley Abbey,
to which it was granted in 1163; but “John Priest of Ledgureside” is
found witnessing a charter granted in 1127 by Robert, Bishop of St.
Andrews, in favour of the Priory of Coldingham. The modern church
appears to occupy the site of the original nave, as its east wall and
part of the return of the side walls are old. The nave measures 47 feet
10 inches long by 27 feet 9 inches wide. A piece of stone carved with
Celtic interlaced work is built into the south wall near the west end,
and on the corner there is a double sundial, bearing the initials W. G.,
and the date 1682.
Another fragment of Norman work survives at Chirnside in the doorway of
the ruined church, situated about one mile from Chirnside
Fig. 279.—Chirnside Church. Doorway.
Railway Station. The village stands high, and commands an extensive
view. The church has been much restored, but the ancient Norman walls in
great measure remain. Its size can, therefore, be determined, being 78
feet in length by 23 feet ½ inch in width. The only architectural
feature remaining is the doorway on the south side. (Fig. 279.) It is
contained in a shallow projection of 9½ inches, which is 10 feet 2
inches in breadth. The doorway is 2 feet 10¾ inches wide, and the height
to the lintel is 6 feet 10 inches. The arched head is somewhat peculiar,
consisting of two segmental arches, resting on caps placed at different
levels.
Each jamb contains two nook shafts (the two outer shafts being modern),
with simple bases and cushion caps, the inner cap being lower than the
outer. A bead runs round the jambs and square lintel, and the tympanum
is plain. Each cap carries an order, the inner order being enriched with
a series of chevrons, and the outer order with mouldings. The soffit in
both orders is plain. The outer order is enclosed in a small label,
which has a break at the termination—a very unusual feature in Norman
work.
At the sides of the doorway there are remains of a projection, probably
a porch. The church had a western tower, which was taken down in 1750.
It was vaulted in stone.
The Church of Chirnside, before the Reformation, was under the patronage
of the Collegiate Church of Dunbar. In the taxation of 1176 the
Ecclesia de Chirnesyd is valued at 50 merks. The church is probably
somewhat older than that date.
The ruins of this church stand in a lonely and lofty situation
overlooking the sea, about three miles eastward from Cockburnspath. The
fabric is now in a greater state of dilapidation than is shown by the
annexed views, which are copied from a sketch by James Drummond, R.S.A.,
engraved in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of
Scotland.[176] It is accompanied by a description and plan by Mr.
Thomas S. Muir, from which it would appear that about the middle of this
century the east gable wall, which was then entire, was taken down, the
stones being used for agricultural purposes, and that most of what is
shown of the chancel arch shared a similar fate. The dimensions can
still be ascertained from the ruins.
The church (Fig. 280) was a Norman structure, with the exception of the
west gable wall, and consisted of a nave about 30 feet 9 inches long by
18 feet wide, and a chancel 15 feet 2 inches long by 11 feet 6½ inches
wide. The total internal length was thus about 48 feet 11 inches. The
building was barrel vaulted throughout. The apertures where the north
and south walls of the nave are shown broken down (see Fig. 280.)
probably indicate the position of a north and south doorway. There were
two windows
Fig. 280.—St. Helen’s Church. Plan.
in the south wall, with three shallow arched recesses beneath. (Fig.
281.) These recesses measure 11 inches deep by about 3 feet high, and
have not been fitted with doors. Their purpose is unknown. The chancel
arch, when entire, measured about 7 feet in width. The stone shown in
Fig. 281.—St. Helen’s Church. View looking East.
the foreground of Fig. 281 gives an idea of the section of the jambs of
the arch, only part of which now remains. A broad band connected with
the caps runs along the north and south walls of the nave. The band is
decorated with a circular rosette ornament. As will be seen from this
view, the arch was flanked on each side by a square recessed opening,
similar in position to those at the chancel arch at Tynninghame, but the
recesses at the latter are arched. Beneath each of these there is a
small opening, as shown on view, about 6 inches square, which goes into
the wall for about two feet, but the place is now too ruinous to permit
of the matter being further investigated.
The north wall of the chancel is almost entire, and has had no opening.
The south wall is nearly all gone, and, as already stated, nothing
remains of the east wall. The narrow east window, with its wide internal
splay, appears to have been set in a recess, and enriched round the arch
and down the jambs with a single chevron ornament.
Fig. 282.—St. Helen’s Church. West Gable Wall.
The west gable wall (Fig. 282) has been rebuilt in the fourteenth or
fifteenth century. It is without opening of any kind, save the numerous
putlog holes used for the masons’ scaffolding when erecting the
building.
This was the church of Aldcamus, incorporated before the year 1750 in
the parish of Cockburnspath. The manor of Aldcamus was granted by King
Edgar (1098-1107) to Durham, and “thenceforth belonged to the monastery
of Coldingham, as a cell of Durham.”[177] How long after this date the
church was built we do not know; but as Chalmers remarks in a footnote
that it was the manor, not the church, which Edgar granted to Durham, it
may be doubted whether the church then existed. It appears to have
fallen into ruin about the time of its annexation to Cockburnspath.
The few relics which survive of this ancient monastery lie buried in a
thick clump of trees, which stands between the modern mansion of
Tynninghame and the river Tyne, about three miles north-east from East
Linton. This was one of the churches dedicated to St. Baldred, of which
there were several on the East Coast. That Saint seems to have selected
the Bass Rock as his place of abode, whence his fame spread through the
adjoining regions. He is believed to have come from the establishment of
the Columbans at Lindisfarne, whose diocese extended as far as the Frith
of Forth. He died in 606. The foundation of Tynninghame was laid by St.
Baldred, or Blathere,[178] and the church continued as a separate parish
till 1760, when it was united to Whitekirk.
Fig. 283.—Tynninghame Church. Plan.
What remains of the structure is of Norman architecture, and exhibits
elaborate ornamental work of that style. The plan of the church (Fig.
283) is in part still traceable. The west end of the choir, with its
great arch (Fig. 284), is fairly preserved, and the outline of a
rectangular choir, about 18 feet in length by 17 feet in width, is
observable, although the side walls are greatly demolished.
Fig. 284.—Tynninghame Church. West End of Choir.
The nave, if it ever existed, has entirely disappeared. At the east end
an enriched chancel arch still survives (Fig. 285), and also portions of
pillars, which indicate that there has been an eastern apse.
The western arch (see Fig. 284.) is supported on a series of nook shafts,
some of which are broken away. These carry simply formed caps, with
Fig. 285.—Tynninghame Church. Arch of Apse.
square abacus, carved with scale work. The arch contains three orders
enriched with ornaments and a label. The first and third orders are
enriched with very elaborate chevron ornaments; the central order has
the billet and the hood mould, a series of small semicircles placed back
to back. An arched recess occurs in the wall at each side of the
central arch. That on the north side is original, and is ornamented
with the chevron. The arch on the south side has been renewed. It is not
clear what purpose these arches served, but most probably they contained
altars. Arched recesses in this position, although not common, are
sometimes found in Norman churches. The arch of the apse (see Fig. 285.)
is enriched in three orders, and the caps of the shafts have volutes
(Fig. 286). Two of the pillars which formed part of the apse survive.
The details of the caps and central band are shown in Fig. 286.
Many of the smaller ornaments of this structure are very beautiful, and
are well preserved. On the south side (see Fig. 284.) there remains the
recessed pointed arch of a monument, in which parts of a decayed
recumbent effigy are visible. The three shields on the top give it a
picturesque effect.
Fig. 286.—Tynninghame Church. Caps in Apse.
The ruined church is now used as the family mausoleum of the Earls of
Haddington.
This church is situated in the valley of the Tweed, six and a half miles
west from Peebles, and within one mile of Stobo Railway Station. It is
Fig. 287.—Stobo Church. Plan.
Fig. 288.—Stobo Church. View from South-East.
a Norman structure, to which some alterations and additions have been
made in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The building is still
used as the parish church. The roof and interior fittings are modern, as
are also the skews and gabled skew putts, of which latter there was no
suggestion in the old work. But the most serious injury inflicted on the
Fig. 289.—Stobo Church. Norman Doorway.
structure was the entire destruction of the Norman chancel arch at the
restoration of the building in 1868, “in order to insert a modern
pointed one.”—(Transactions of the Aberdeen Ecclesiological Society,
1887, p. 6.)
The building (Fig. 287) consists of a nave about 40 feet long by 18 feet
7 inches wide, with a chancel about 24 feet 4 inches long by 16 feet
wide, thus making the total interior length about 67 feet 4 inches.
There is a tower at the west end, about 20 feet square over the walls,
and 11 feet by 9 feet 6 inches inside. The tower has originally opened
into the church with what appears to have been a round arch, which is
now partly concealed by a gallery and other erections. This opening has
been reduced in size, as shown on the plan, to a doorway about three
feet wide. The doorway is pointed, and of old date.
As the whole building is harled or rough cast on the outside and
plastered on the inside, it is impossible to say definitely whether the
tower is Norman or later. The work of the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries consists of the south porch (Fig. 288), built up against the
Norman doorway (Fig. 289), and a north aisle or chapel, which opened
from the nave with a round arch, now built up. This chapel, which is
ruined, was barrel vaulted. The windows in the south wall are also of
this period. The mullions and tracery of those of the nave are modern,
as is also a monument erected against the interior of the east wall,
which may possibly conceal a Norman east window. The four-light window
in the south wall of the chancel (Fig. 290), although of this late
period, is quaint and pleasing, the small circle in the apex giving it
quite a touch of originality.
Fig. 290.—Stobo Church. Window in South Wall of
Chancel.
A round arched recess for a monument in the north side of the chancel
also belongs to this period. It has contained a coat of arms, which is
effaced.
The original windows in the north side of the chancel remain. The
daylight is about 7 inches wide by about 2 feet high. There has been a
Norman doorway in the north side of the nave. It has a plain arch, and
was probably not unlike the doorway in the opposite wall, which is of
very simple design, with octagonal shafts. The capitals are slightly
mutilated.
The window to the west of the porch is modern, as are the doorway and
stair in the tower. The latter is of wood, and leads to the gallery
already referred to. There does not appear to have been a stone stair in
the tower. The belfry is late, as is the present tower roof. It is
impossible to say how the tower was originally finished.
The walls being lined with wood on the inside, the usual fittings are
concealed, the only feature visible being the locker, shown on Plan,
near the east end. It is widely splayed in the ingoing, and is not
Norman. The south chancel door is probably of the period of the
adjoining windows.
Stobo Church, like most of the churches of Peeblesshire, “belonged to
the diocese of Glasgow at the epoch of Earl David’s Inquisitio in 1116,
and both the church and manor were confirmed to that see, by several
bulls of successive Popes, in the twelfth century.” In Bagimont’s Roll
(1275) it is mentioned as the “Rectoria de Stobo” and the “Vicaria de
Stobo.”[179] It was the church of a Plebania,[180] having subordinate
churches or chaplainries within its territory, over which its priest,
who was styled dean, exercised a certain authority. There were four
subordinate parishes—viz., Broughton, Dowie, Drummelzier, and
Tweedsmuir. In 1116 the rectory of Stobo was converted into the valuable
prebend of Tweeddale in Glasgow Cathedral.
This ancient Norman edifice has formed the place of worship for the
locality since the twelfth century, and is still used as the parish
church. It is picturesquely situated on the north side of Duddingston
Loch,
Fig. 291.—Duddingston Church. Plan.
immediately under the south side of Arthur’s Seat, and within a mile of
Edinburgh.
Fig. 292.—Duddingston Church. From South-East.
The structure has undergone many alterations during the six centuries of
its existence, but still retains its original Norman character to a
greater extent than at first sight might be supposed; indeed, it is one
of the best preserved examples we have in Scotland, although the
introduction of a
Fig. 293.—Duddingston Church. South Doorway.
few prominent features in later times, such as the windows and
buttresses, have somewhat detracted from its antique appearance.
The building appears to have originally consisted of a nave and chancel;
if it had a tower, it must have been of smaller dimensions than the
present one, as the base of the west wall abuts against the side walls
of the present tower instead of returning along it, as it would
otherwise in all likelihood have done.
The nave (Fig. 291) measures about 33 feet 4 inches long, and was
probably about 19 feet wide inside. The chancel is about square, being
16 feet 1½ inch from east to west by 15 feet 6 inches wide, the total
inside length of the church being 52 feet 9 inches.
On the outside a series of pilaster buttresses divided the nave into
four bays; these still exist along the south side, measuring about 2
feet on the face, and having a projection of 9 inches, with a large base
returned round them. To these pilasters massive buttresses (Fig. 292)
projecting three feet have been added. At the corners of the church the
original angle pilasters remain unaltered. The old doorway in the west
bay of the south side (Fig. 293) still continues unchanged, except that
it
Fig. 294.—Duddingston Church.
is built up, and has an incongruous granite slab occupying the whole
space. The opening of the doorway is about 4 feet 2 inches wide. The
arch is richly sculptured with the chevron in two orders, the inner
order being supported on shafts decorated with the chevron in a manner
not found, we think, anywhere else in Scotland. On one of these shafts
there are two sculptured scenes. The upper one represents the
Crucifixion. (See Fig. 293.) The lower one (Fig. 294) shows a figure
holding aloft a drawn sword; beside the sword, in the shade where the
shaft disappears at the jamb, there is what looks like a key, possibly
the symbol of St. Peter, so that the subject may be the incident of
cutting off the ear of the High Priest.
The chancel arch (Fig. 295) is the only Norman feature now remaining in
the interior. It is in two orders, having on the outer order the usual
chevron ornament, with a notched hood moulding similar to what is found
at Dunfermline. The inner order has a bold bead on the edge. The arch is
quite plain on its inner face towards the chancel. It is carried by
three semi-shafts (Fig. 296), with cushion caps and simple bases. The
abacus has been carved with facets.
On the exterior of the chancel there occur on the north and south sides
(see Fig. 292.) characteristic Norman corbels supporting the wall-head
parapet. These consist generally of the usual bridled heads and
monstrous faces, but they are now very weather-worn.
The north wall of the nave has been taken down and a north aisle added
(see Plan), apparently in the year 1631, as that date (Fig. 297) is
carved on a window lintel of the east wall. In the north gable of this
aisle there are two traceried windows, somewhat after the style of the
Perpendicular Period. (Fig. 298.) It will be observed that the mouldings
of the loop form of the tracery do not mitre with the arch mouldings.
At a later period a central window, without tracery, has been placed in
the north wall of the aisle. It corresponds exactly with the windows
Fig. 295.—Duddingston Church. Chancel Arch.
seen in the south side, and with the one in the east wall of the
chancel, judging from which it was probably at this later period that
all the present windows, seen in Fig. 292, were inserted. The original
windows were, doubtless, the usual small windows found in Norman
churches, and when they came to be enlarged, the builders probably
increased the buttresses to compensate for the weakening of the wall,
and added the conical finials on them and on the gables (see Fig. 292.).
It is obvious that to this period also the upper part of the tower
belongs. The lower part of the tower, although not of the original
structure, is, we are inclined to think, of considerable antiquity; it
opens into the church with a plain, round arch. The staircase shown in
it and on the north aisle lead to galleries.
Fig. 296.
Jamb of Chancel Arch.
Fig. 297.
Lintel in East Wall, North Aisle.
Fig. 298.
Window in North Aisle.
During the reign of William the Lion (1165-1214) the church and lands of
Dodin-ston were acquired by the Abbey of Kelso, but from whom they were
acquired is not known. There were several persons of the name of Dodin,
but the one who gave his name to this place does not appear to be known.
But there was a “Hugo filius Dodini de Dodines-tun” who witnessed a
charter to the Canons of Holyrood in the time of William the Lion
(Dalrymple Collection, Pref. lxvii.; also, Caledonia, Vol. II. p.
791.)
In 1296 John Combale, the vicar of Dodinestun, swore fealty to Edward I.
In the ancient Taxatio (end of twelfth century), Duddingston Church is
rated at twenty-five merks.
The village of Gullane lies in the parish of Dirleton, about four miles
north-west from Drem Station, and half-a-mile from the sea.
The old church of St. Andrew is now a roofless ruin, thickly clad with
ivy, and standing in the middle of the ancient churchyard. The church
was bestowed early in the thirteenth century on Dryburgh Abbey by Sir
William de Vaux, and in 1446 it was erected into a collegiate
institution by Sir Walter de Haliburton. Both these knights were the
proprietors of the Castle of Dirleton in the vicinity.
The structure (Fig. 299) consisted of nave and chancel, the chancel
being entered from the nave by a semicircular chancel arch, almost the
only remnant of the edifice of the twelfth century which survives.
Fig. 299.—Gullane Church. Plan.
The chancel as it now stands is 35 feet in length by 15 feet 6 inches in
width internally. The eastern portion is a comparatively recent
addition, and has a square east wall, but it is believed that the
chancel formerly terminated towards the east with an apse. Part of the
old south wall of the chancel, extending to about 20 feet in length,
still remains. It contains two pointed windows, with late mouldings on
the exterior, probably fragments of the restoration of the fifteenth
century, at the time when the church was made collegiate. These windows
have been reduced to mere slits by being built up with slabs in the
interior. This filling up was probably inserted when the place was
converted into a burial-ground for a private family, in order to prevent
entrance through the windows.
The south wall of the nave is still about 72 feet in length, but the
north wall is reduced to about 43 feet long. The west end is gone, and
the nave has been divided up into private burial-places. The windows
which remain in the south wall of the nave have been much altered in
Presbyterian times, having had flat lintels, &c., introduced.
The chancel archway (Fig. 300, 301) is 8 feet in width. It has square
jambs on both sides of the wall, and a central half shaft on each jamb
of the opening. The caps of these shafts (see Fig. 301.) are fairly
preserved, and
Fig. 300.—Gullane Church. West Side of Chancel Arch.
show a form of volutes, with a cabled necking and a three-sided abacus,
which was continued as a string course along the walls on each side.
The arch has been built up, but the two plain orders of the east side
are visible, and the outer order on the west side (Fig. 300), carved
with a bold chevron and finished with a three-sided hood, is well
preserved. There can be no doubt as to this part of the structure being
of Norman origin, and the north wall of the nave has a three-sided
string course, which seems to indicate the same date, but the remainder
of the structure
Fig. 301.—Gullane Church. East Side of Chancel Arch.
has been greatly altered. The earth inside the choir has been filled up
to near the caps of the chancel arch. A round arch in the north wall of
the chancel appears to belong to a side door at the original level of
the floor.
An “aisle” or wing has been built out to the north from the nave. It has
been entered by a large semicircular arch from the nave, and has had a
large north window, but these openings are now built up. This erection
seems to be of about the time of the Reformation.
The Church of Uphall is a Norman structure throughout, and consists of
nave, chancel, and a western tower. It has been subjected to various
Fig. 302.—Uphall Church. Plan.
alterations and extensions, but the original plan is still perfectly
clear, and is shown by Fig. 302, which ignores the changes, except the
addition of the south aisle or wing. The building has no side aisles.
The nave measures about 35 feet long by 15 feet wide, and the
Fig. 303.—Uphall Church. Doorway.
chancel 30 feet 6 inches long by 13 feet wide. The doorway (Fig. 303) is
in the usual place at the west end of the south front. It is of Norman
design, having a nook shaft at each side, with cushion cap and plain
square abacus. The arch is round, and has two orders, the inner order
being square edged, and the outer composed of mouldings, and having a
moulded label. It is probable there was some piece of carving beneath
the arch, or else the square lintel is an alteration. A stoup adjoining
in the south wall has a pointed opening, and probably dates from the
fifteenth century. There is another doorway opposite in the north wall,
which is perfectly plain, and, so far as it can be seen, it appears to
be original; but, as the lower parts of the walls are covered with wood
boarding, other requisites which may exist, such as ambries and piscina,
are concealed. None of the windows are original, so far, at least, as
they are seen on the exterior, and the whole masonry on the inside is
covered. The east window in the south wall (Fig. 304) has a horizontal
arched lintel, with radiating joints, and probably dates from late in
the fifteenth century. It is impossible to say whether there were
windows in the east wall or not, and, as regards the north wall, it has
nearly all been taken down between the west door and the chancel arch,
in order to admit a modern addition. The chancel arch itself has been
taken away, and the
Fig. 304.—Uphall Church. Window in South Wall.
wall above removed, and the place occupied by it has been filled up with
lath and plaster, and slated on the outside.
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.
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
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.
Fig. 306.—Strathbroc Church. Font.
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.
Fig. 308.—Abercorn Church. South Doorway.
It is believed that when the Northumbrian kingdom was extended to the
Forth in the seventh century, a church was founded here in 675, under
St. Wilfrid, as a central point from which to superintend the northern
part of his diocese. Under Trumuini, this church became the see of the
earliest bishopric in Scotland, during the years from 681 to 685. But
the victory of the Picts over the Northumbrians at Dunichen caused the
latter to retire from Lothian, and drove the monks back to Whitby. The
site, however, continued to be occupied by a church, and part of the
existing structure belongs to the Norman period. It has been very
greatly altered in modern times—so much so, that a round-headed doorway
(Fig. 308) in the south wall is now almost the only portion remaining
which can be
Fig. 309.—Abercorn Church. From South-East.
identified as of Norman date. This Norman doorway has the usual nook
shafts, with cushion caps, and the lintel within the round arch is
square. The tympanum is filled with stones, arranged in zig-zag
patterns, and is one of the few examples in Scotland of a tympanum
filled with a shield containing ornament of any kind.
Several burial-places have been added on the south side of the church
since Reformation times. (Fig. 309.) These can generally be identified
by the coats of arms they bear.
To the north-east of the church there has been erected, probably in the
eighteenth century, a house of two stories as a place for the lord of
the manor, from which he obtained access to his private gallery, erected
about that time at the east end of the choir, which it still disfigures.
In the churchyard there are many interesting tombstones, and amongst
them are two stone monuments of rather unusual form. (Fig. 310.)
Fig. 310.—Abercorn Church. Monuments.
These consist of solid stones, doubtless intended to be laid over
graves, triangular in section, with the ridge rising to the centre. One
has the sides carved with figures of fish-scale pattern, arranged in
rows; the other has the scales of a squarer shape. The ends are broken.
They are good specimens of the hog-backed form of tombstones.
In 1113, David, Earl of Huntingdon, introduced thirteen Reformed
Benedictine monks from Tiron, in France (hence called Tironenses), and
settled them at Selkirk, near his castle there. But the place was not
found suitable, and in 1128, after David had become king, the monks,
with the consent of the Bishop of Glasgow, were removed to Kelso, where
they were established near the royal castle of Roxburgh. The foundation
of the new abbey was laid in 1128, and the church was dedicated to the
blessed Virgin Mary and St. John the Evangelist. The monastery soon
became the richest and most powerful in Scotland. In 1165 the Pope
granted permission to the abbot to wear the mitre, and the abbot claimed
precedence of all the superiors of monasteries in Scotland. But in 1420
this precedence was decided by James I. in favour of the Prior of St.
Andrews. Many of the abbots of Kelso were men of learning and celebrity,
and were employed in important offices in and out of the kingdom, and
others were promoted to bishoprics.
During the War of Independence the abbey, which lay near the Border,
suffered severely. The monastery was laid waste, and the monks were
supported by contributions from the other houses of the order. In 1344,
the buildings of the abbey having been destroyed by fire, David II.
granted permission to the monks to cut wood in Selkirk and Jedwart
Forest, to enable them to carry out the necessary reparations.
In 1511 the abbacy passed into the hands of the Bishop of Caithness, as
commendator, and its decline soon followed. After the Battle of Flodden,
in 1513, David Ker of Cessford took possession of the abbey, and had his
brother made abbot. In 1522-3 invasion and havoc spread over Teviotdale.
Lords Ross and Dacre pillaged the town, sparing the
Fig. 311.—Kelso Abbey. Ground Plan.
abbey; but in 1523 Lord Dacre sacked and burned it. The abbot’s house
and buildings surrounding it, the Chapel of the Virgin, and the cells of
the dormitory were all reduced to ashes; the lead was stripped from the
roof, and the abbey rendered uninhabitable. All religious services were
stopped, and the monks had to retire in want and poverty to a village
near. From 1536 till 1558 James Stewart, natural son of James V., filled
the office of abbot, and drew the revenues. In 1542 the Duke of Norfolk,
Fig. 312.—Kelso Abbey. South Side of Chancel and South
Transept.
and in 1545 the Earl of Hertford, again attacked and further destroyed
the monastery. On the latter occasion the defenders sought refuge in the
tower, which they defended till darkness enabled some of them to escape.
The shattered walls seem still to have afforded some shelter; but they
Fig. 313.—Kelso Abbey. From South-East.
were again still further reduced by Lord Eure in 1546. Finally, in 1560,
when a few monks still remained, the buildings were attacked by the mob,
and all the remaining fittings and furnishings destroyed. In 1559 the
revenues and property of the abbey had been taken possession of by the
Lords of the Congregation in the name of the Crown.
These were afterwards distributed amongst the favourites of James VI.,
and were finally conferred on Sir Robert Ker of Cessford, who was
created
Fig. 314.—Kelso Abbey. Crossing and North Transept.
Lord Roxburgh in 1599. The abbey still belongs to his successor, the
Duke of Roxburgh, and the remains of the late Duke are buried in the
south transept.
In 1649 a vault was thrown over the transept, so as to convert it into a
parish church, and above this another vault served as a prison. This is
shown in Grose’s view, made a century ago.
Fig. 315.—Kelso Abbey. From West.
During service on a Sunday in 1771, a panic was caused by the fall of a
fragment of cement, and the church was thereafter abandoned. The ruins
were partly disencumbered by the Duke of Roxburgh, 1805-16, and in 1823
the buildings were repaired by the noblemen and gentlemen of the
county.[182]
After the many batterings and the long neglect the abbey church has
endured, it is astonishing to find even the fragments which still exist.
The edifice has consisted (Fig. 311) of a choir or chancel of
considerable length, with north and south aisles, and of a transept and
nave, without aisles. The north and south divisions of the transept and
the nave form three arms of equal length round the three sides of the
crossing, above which rises the massive square tower.
The church has been originally constructed in the late Norman style of
about the end of the twelfth century, passing into the transition style;
but the upper part of the tower has been rebuilt at a later period.
A portion of each of the departments of the church survives, but in the
case of the chancel there remains only a fragment. The chancel is the
only part which had aisles, but these have now entirely disappeared; and
of the chancel itself, all that remains (Fig. 312) is two of the south
main piers, with their arches, and two stories of arcades above, which
represent the triforium and clerestory. This arrangement is peculiar,
and the effect is striking.
Fig. 316.—Kelso Abbey. West Doorway.
The main piers consist of a circular column, five feet in diameter, with
smaller attached half-columns on three sides to carry the moulded arches
between the main piers and the arches between the latter and the aisles.
The piers have caps of the usual Norman modified cushion pattern, and
the arches were moulded and arranged in several orders. The arcade
immediately over the main arches has a row of single round shafts, with
spreading Norman caps, which carry a series of moulded arches, occupying
the position of the triforium. The upper arcade, which takes the place
of the clerestory, has shafts of triple form, with wide-spreading bases
and caps of Norman and transition design. On the latter rest the round
boldly-moulded arches. The arches opposite the windows in the outer wall
are slightly larger than the others. It will be observed that there is
no main vaulting shaft carried up over the main piers, as is almost
invariably the case, for the purpose of strengthening the wall. On the
contrary, the triforium arcade is continuous, and no provision is made
to support the side wall, except the single shafts of the running
arcade, which have a very weak effect. In the usual arrangement the
triforium arches are separated by a substantial piece of wall, including
a vaulting shaft, and the triforium arch, which is generally subdivided
into several subordinate arches, is introduced between the vaulting
shafts.
That is a much more substantial form of construction, and also more
satisfactory to the eye, than the plan adopted here of a simple
continuous arcade.
Fig. 317.—Kelso Abbey. North End of Transept.
The clerestory is designed on the same principle as the triforium, and
consists of a continuous arcade, without the interruption of the
vaulting shafts.
In the view of the exterior of this portion of the choir (Fig. 313), the
outside of the windows of the clerestory is visible, being simple
round-headed openings, with flat buttresses between them. The remainder
of the wall is plain, but, judging from the level of the triforium
window, the vaulting of the aisle, which was very high, and partly
covered the windows, seems to have been added at a later date. The choir
was 28 feet in width from centre to centre of the piers, only two of
which survive.
The crossing is square, and measures 28 feet from centre to centre of
the piers; but of these the north-east one is wanting. The piers are
about nine feet square, that at the south-east angle standing detached
in consequence of the opening into the south aisle, while those at the
north-west and south-west angles are incorporated with the walls.
The piers are designed as a series of shafts set in square nooks (four
on each of the complete sides), with a larger semicircular shaft at each
angle. (See Figs. 312 and 314.) The shafts are all built in courses with
the piers. They have transition bases and caps. From the latter spring
large pointed arches, with plain chamfered orders. The pointed arch
indicates the transitional character of this part of the building. It
was probably introduced in this position to give strength to sustain the
tower.
As already mentioned, the three arms of the cross branching to the
north, south, and west from the crossing are of equal size. This is a
Fig. 318.—Kelso Abbey. Doorway of North Transept.
very unusual arrangement, the western arm or nave being generally much
the longest division of the church. We have not heard any satisfactory
explanation given of the shortness of the nave of Kelso. This
arrangement of plan has apparently been part of the original design, as
the western doorway (Figs. 315 and 316) is one of the most prominently
Norman portions of the edifice. The upper part of the west front (see
Fig. 315.), although much broken away, has been in the transition style;
while the Norman arcading, which runs round the interior of the nave,
was continued across the west end.
The nave and the north and south transept each measure about 22 feet in
width by 18 feet in length. Each contains four stories in height (Figs.
315 and 317), consisting of an interlacing arcade of Norman work in the
interior of the ground level, and three stories of windows above. The
upper arcades of the choir do not extend round the nave and transepts,
except in a portion of the south transept. (See Fig. 312.) Another
arrangement was found desirable in those portions where there were no
aisles, as windows could be obtained in that case; while, with aisles
(as in the choir), the first floor was darkened by the roof of the
Fig. 319.—Kelso Abbey. Plan of Doorway in North
Transept.
aisles. The windows in the different stories of the nave and transept
have all round arches, both outside (see Fig. 315.) and inside, the
former having one plain square-edged order supported on nook shafts. Of
these the caps and bases only are now for the most part in existence.
The exterior is marked at each angle by broad and shallow Norman
buttresses, with nook shafts in the angles, and an interlacing arcade
running round the lower story, both internally and externally.
In the façades of the west end and north transept the windows of the
different stories have been grouped so as to form distinct designs. In
the west end, over the great west doorway (see Fig. 315.), there has been
an arrangement of tall windows of apparently lancet form, having on
either side an interlacing arcade of round arches, supported on tall
banded shafts. This is now, unfortunately, greatly destroyed. Above the
arcade there runs a horizontal flat cornice, enriched with several rows
of carved ornaments, and this was surmounted by a large opening of
quatrefoil shape, surrounded with numerous mouldings and enrichments.
The angle buttresses have been crowned with octagonal turrets.
Fig. 320.—Kelso Abbey. Section through Transept from
North to South.
The north wall of the north transept (see Fig. 317.) has a fine
transition door-piece (Fig. 318), which occupies the two lower stories.
The next two stories have two windows in each, separated by a small
buttress, the upper one of these stories having three arches in the
interior. (See Fig. 314.) Above these stories is a small circular
window, with a curious saving arch over it, and the whole is crowned
with a top story, containing three round-headed openings, and a gable
with a small circular aperture. The buttresses at the angles are crowned
with circular turrets, which have been finished with a projecting
parapet, the corbels for carrying which still survive. The upper part of
the gable shows signs of having been altered.
It may be pointed out that the west front and the façade of the north
transept are good illustrations of the Norman and Transition styles
Fig. 321.—Kelso Abbey. Plan at Triforium Level, showing
Passages in Walls, &c.
of designing such elevations. The north transept shows the early manner
of dividing the façade into several stories, piled one above the other;
while the west front, which is chiefly in the transition style,
indicates the beginning of the later form of façade, in which the whole
front is treated as a single design.
The west doorway and the north door-piece are especially interesting.
The former is a remarkably rich specimen of the elaborate carved work
which characterised the late Norman period. Unfortunately, the south
half of this door-piece has perished. But, from what remains (see Fig.
315.), it is evident that it consisted of a large door-piece, or
quasi-porch, projecting upwards of 5 feet, and finished with a sloping
gable, with
Fig. 322.—Kelso Abbey. Plan at Clerestory Level, showing
Passages in Walls, &c.
stone roof. The jambs (see Fig. 316.) contained five detached shafts set
in nooks, and having Norman bases and carved caps. Over each of these
shafts there springs a circular order, carved with rich Norman ornament,
now, however, very much decayed. The jambs of the doorway also formed
moulded shafts, supporting their order in the arch.
The door-piece in the north wall of the transept (see Fig. 318.) is also
a prominent feature. It projects about 4 feet 6 inches from the main
wall, is carried up two stories, and is roofed in with a sloping stone
roof.
The lower story contains the doorway (Fig. 319), which is 5 feet 6
inches wide, and has plain jambs. It is set back about 3 feet 6 inches,
and the ingoing for about 2 feet is square, and contains two shafts of
ordinary size, with a small one between them; then follows a nook
containing a shaft, and then the jamb. The shafts have the usual Norman
caps and bases. The mouldings of the arch (see enlarged outline in Fig.
319.) are peculiar in their profile. They are enriched—the outer one
with small medallions, the central one with the billet, and the inner
one with rosettes. Above the archway there is an arcade of interlacing
round arches, the shafts, which are gone, having Norman caps. The
tympanum of the gable is covered with a reticulation of round beads or
rolls.
Fig. 323.—Kelso Abbey. Upper Stages of Tower.
The tower (see Figs. 315 and 320), of which the south and west sides and
a small portion of the north and east sides remain, is 35 feet square
over the walls. It is carried up with plain masonry externally, but the
interior has immediately over the great arches of the crossing an arcade
of round moulded arches, supported on triple shafts similar to those of
the choir. Above this arcade is another story containing simple round
arched openings, which are lighted on the exterior by circular windows
containing quatrefoils. Over this tier is the top story, which contains
three pointed and deeply-recessed windows on each side of the tower.
Broad flat buttresses are placed at each angle of the tower, similar to
those of the main building, and these were, no doubt, originally
finished with turrets like those of the transepts.
It has already been said that the upper part of the tower is later than
the lower part. This is apparent from the pointed windows of the top
story, and the quatrefoiled circular windows of the story beneath. The
lower story immediately over the great arches is, without doubt, of
about the same date as the choir.
The approach to the upper floors is now by one staircase in the
north-west angle of the transept, but there were, doubtless, other
similar staircases in parts of the structure now removed. This staircase
gives access to passages which run round the building on every floor
(Figs. 321 and 322) between the arcades and the outer walls. In the
angles of the tower there are small wheel stairs leading to every floor,
and passages running round the tower on every story (Fig. 323.) These
arcades and passages have tended to weaken the structure, which it has
been found necessary to strengthen with numerous iron tie-rods, iron
beams, &c.
There was an outer door in the south-west angle of the transept, and
another in the north wall of the nave adjoining the crossing.
Fig. 324.—Kelso Abbey. Caps and Enrichments of Arcade.
The style of the caps of the arcade on the ground floor (Fig. 324) is
somewhat florid and unusual. The interlacing arches are also in some
places much carved and ornamented, and some portions are wonderfully
well preserved.
A recess for a tomb is seen in the south wall of the transept (see Fig.
312.), and in the recess beneath there are two ambries or lockers and a
piscina, the only one remaining in the building.
To the south of the transept there is a vaulted chamber, 26 feet long by
10 feet 6 inches wide, which may have been the sacristy. It has a wide
entrance from the west, and an arcade with detached shafts and round
arches has run along each side. There has been a window at the east end,
and in the north-east angle a passage leading at a doorway to the
exterior, and also probably into the church.
This ruined structure stands on a slightly-elevated site at the east end
of the Nungate, a suburb of the town of Haddington, on the right bank of
the Tyne. The Nungate is joined to the town by an ancient bridge of
three wide arches and two smaller ones. St. Martin’s belonged to the
Abbey or Nunnery of Haddington, which was situated about one mile to the
east of the town. The nunnery was founded in 1178 by Ada, Countess of
Northumberland, widow of Prince Henry (son of David I.), and mother of
Malcolm IV. and William the Lion. The abbey is now entirely demolished,
and not a stone of it remains. St.
Fig. 325.—St. Martin’s, Haddington. Plan.
Fig. 325.—St. Martin’s, Haddington. Plan.
Martin’s Chapel is the only ecclesiastical structure connected with it
which still survives. In 1567 the prioress, with consent of the chapter,
disponed the greater part of the lands of the abbey, which were
conferred by Queen Mary on William Maitland of Lethington.
The chapel has all the appearance of being very ancient, “and probably
existed as a church when Alexander de St. Martin gave over to the
prioress and nuns his lands and tenements of St. Martinsgate.”[183]
It is a simple oblong (Fig. 325), 55 feet in length by 16 feet 6 inches
in width internally, and appears originally to have had no buttresses;
but several have been added at a later date. The side walls are 4 feet 6
inches in thickness, but do not appear to have been sufficiently strong
to resist the thrust of the barrel vault with which the building was
covered, and a portion of which (Fig. 326) still exists.
In the east wall there is an opening (Fig. 327) with plain jambs and
round arch, which is sometimes called the doorway, but which is clearly
the chancel arch. From excavations made a few years ago, it was
ascertained that there were foundations of a choir 12 feet square, with
a square east wall. The arch is, doubtless, late Norman in design,
having a simple moulding on each jamb to form the imposts, and a plain
moulding running
Fig. 326.—St. Martin’s, Haddington. Interior of West
End.
round the exterior of the arch stones on the side next the church. The
remains of a piscina adjoin the opening on the south side. The
round-headed windows in the side walls are tall and narrow, widely
splayed towards the interior, and covered with a large round arch on the
inside sconsion. There have originally been two entrance doors opposite
each other in the north and south walls, near the west end. The west
wall (Fig. 328) had a single-light window, similar to those in the side
walls; but it is now destroyed. The south doorway has been renewed, but
some portions of
Fig. 327.—St. Martin’s, Haddington. View from
South-East.
the jambs of the north doorway still exist in a mutilated state. The
sconsion arch is segmental.
The vault is lofty, and there has evidently been a story above it, as is
apparent from the windows in the west gable. The gables are very steep
and lofty, and are so constructed in order to admit of rooms in the top
Fig. 328.—St. Martin’s, Haddington. View from
South-West.
story. The plan of having an upper story of this kind was not uncommon
in early churches.
The window in the west gable is pointed, and it and the gables
themselves may be of later date than the original Norman church.
As already mentioned, three buttresses have been built against each of
the side walls. These are entirely constructed with ashlar work of a
white freestone, and those at the east and west ends have the ashlar
work let irregularly into the old walls, as would undoubtedly be the
case in an addition. Besides, they have steep water-tables, such as were
introduced in the first pointed style, but were not used in the Norman
period. The old walls are built with irregularly-coursed brown
freestone, which is greatly worn away, and presents quite a marked
contrast to the buttresses, which have stood the weather well. A
peculiarity of the old walls is that they have numerous holes, about 10
inches square in three courses in the height, running right through the
wall. These may have been putlog holes, used for scaffolding; but the
extraordinary thing is that they should all be left open. Possibly they
were only closed with a stone on the outside and inside, so as to be
easily made available at any time if required, and these stones may now
have fallen out. Similar rows of holes may be observed in the walls at
St. Helen’s and elsewhere.
The church is surrounded by a burial-ground, which was used for
interments within recent years, but is now abandoned.
Some portions of the old Church of Kirkliston, situated about seven
miles west of Edinburgh, including the tower and two ancient doorways,
stand in the churchyard, on the high north-west bank of the Almond
Water, in the village of Kirkliston. The main body
Fig. 329.—Kirkliston Church. Plan.
of the church, so far as can now be ascertained, was an oblong structure
(Fig. 329) about 60 feet in length by 26 feet in width externally, but
part of the north wall has been removed, so as to allow the church to be
extended. The old tower (Fig. 330) stands at the west end of the
structure. It is about 21 feet square, and has the solid buttresses
projecting on both sides of the angles, which indicate early
work—transition
Fig. 330.—Kirkliston Church. View from South-West.
or first pointed. A square projection at the south-east angle of the
tower contains a wheel staircase. The windows are mere slits. The roof
of the tower is evidently comparatively new. It has a picturesque
seventeenth century belfry on the east gable.
There is an old archway in the east wall of the tower, which connected
it with the main building of the church.
Fig. 331.—Kirkliston Church. South Doorway.
In the south wall of the church there still exists, though partly
restored, a splendid Norman doorway. (Fig. 331.) The doorway itself
measures 4 feet 9 inches in width, and the whole door-piece measures 14
feet 7 inches over all. Besides the attached rolls on the jambs, which
form shafts with caps, there are seven detached shafts on each side,
arranged alternately large and small, with three large ones at each
outer angle. These had all caps of transition form, but the carving is
now almost completely destroyed. The arch, which is semicircular, has
numerous mouldings, which are not arranged in the usual square orders,
but have
Fig. 332.—Kirkliston Church. North-East Doorway.
received a freer treatment. The divisions may be regarded as composing
four orders, of which the inner order and the third order are enriched
with chevron ornaments. The hood moulding has also been carved with the
chevron, but the ornament has now almost all disappeared.
The wall of the church in which the above doorway stands is undoubtedly
of considerable antiquity, the cornice which carried the original
parapet being still in situ. (See Fig. 330.)
At the north-east angle of the existing church another Norman doorway,
removed from elsewhere in the building, has been re-erected. (Fig. 332.)
The round arch consists of three plain square orders, which spring from
the enriched caps of two nook shafts and the jamb moulding. Most of the
caps have a transition character, and the carving is fairly preserved.
At the south-east angle of the church is erected the burial-house of
John, Earl of Stair, born 1672, died 1747. Over the moulded doorway is
the inscription, “Virtute decet non id sanguine niti. 1629.”
Kirkliston from an early period belonged to the Knights Hospitallers of
St. John, who held much land in the locality. The church, as altered, is
still used as the parish church of Kirkliston.
Fig. 333.—St. Mary’s. Ratho. View of West End.
ST. MARY’S CHURCH, RATHO, Mid-Lothian.
The village of Ratho lies about one and a quarter mile south from the
railway station of the same name, and about eight miles west from
Edinburgh.
The parish church is dedicated to St. Mary, and the “Lady’s Well,” in
the vicinity, is still in use. Although greatly altered and mostly
Fig. 334.—St. Mary’s, Ratho. South Doorway.
rebuilt, the church still retains some indications of its Norman origin.
The view (Fig. 333) shows the west end of the church, crowned with its
belfry. The buttresses indicate considerable age, but it is scarcely
possible to fix their date. The only Norman relic preserved is the
doorway in the south-west wall (seen in the sketch). It is built against
by the wall of a wing, so that only a portion of the doorway remains
visible. This consists (Fig. 334) of one jamb, which had a nook shaft
and a cushion cap, carrying a plain round arch with a hood mould, carved
with a zigzag or saw-tooth ornament.
Ratho Church was connected with Holyrood Abbey, and was a rectory. In
1444 the tiends and patronage were, with the consent of the Archbishop
of St. Andrews, made over to the College Kirk of Corstorphine, which was
then established. By this means four prebendal stalls were endowed.
The remains of the Church of St. Peter, Peterhead (Fig. 335), consist of
the side walls of the chancel and the entire chancel arch, with a square
tower projecting outwards in the centre of the west wall of the nave. No
other portion of the nave remains. The tower and west wall are late, but
the chancel is of the Norman period. The arch is quite plain, and is
supported on square jambs having Norman cushion caps.
There is a supposed reference to the church in the Book of Deer, in
1132, concerning a gift consecrated to St. Peter, Columcille, and
Drostan, who “were the tutelar saints of the Churches of Peterhead, St.
Colms, and Deer, which were the only churches in the district dedicated
to these saints.”[185] Their endowments were then gifted to the great
Columban Church of Dunkeld, with which they remained till the founding
of the Abbey of Deer, in 1218, when, it is believed, the patronage of
the Church
Fig. 335.—St. Peter’s, Peterhead. View from South-East.
of St. Peter, at Peterhead, was conveyed to that abbey by the charter of
foundation, now not known to exist.
Only the merest fragment of this ancient church now remains, consisting
of the east wall (Fig. 336), with an eastern tower attached to it. The
masonry of the east wall shows it to be of the Norman period. There has
been no opening of any kind in this wall. The returns of the chancel
walls are only indicated on the east wall by the slightest traces in the
jointing, so completely have they been cut away. The eastern tower (Fig.
337) is quite a unique feature in Scotland. It had no connection with
the church, although built against it, and is of later erection by
probably two or three centuries. The doorway is low and lintelled, and
has a simple splay. The upper part of the tower has apparently been
rebuilt, and, with the slated roof, dates doubtless from the seventeenth
century. The tower is about 10 feet 6 inches square inside, and about
34 feet high to the top of the masonry. It contains no stair.
In Ure’s History of Rutherglen it is stated that there was a nave with
side aisles, 62 feet long by 25 feet wide, “exclusive of the additions
on the back and front;” that is, exclusive of the side aisles. Assuming
these to have been eight or ten feet wide, we should have a church
nearly corresponding in size with the present erection, built about a
century ago, and occupying the site of the nave, as shown in outline on
the plan, on which are also indicated the nave piers. The nave was thus
about 62 feet long by 45 feet wide, and the chancel was about 42 feet
long by 20 feet wide inside. Ure, by a mistake easily made, gives the
dimensions of the chancel as ten feet less in length. He also mentions
that there were five pillars on each side of the nave. This may mean
four whole pillars and two halves (the responds), as shown in the plan,
which, however, merely pretends to approximate to something like what
the original was.
Fig. 336.—St. Mary’s, Rutherglen. Plan.
Ure gives a drawing of the interior of the church, with detailed
sketches of some of the capitals of the piers. Four of these capitals
are preserved in a garden rockery in Rutherglen, and the annexed sketch
(Fig. 338) shows them as they are seen lying there half covered up and
concealed. The upper one, which shows the bed of the capital, is a
respond from one of the end walls, and the diameter of the column, as
indicated by the inner circle, is 18 inches, the breadth across the
abacus being 2 feet 5 inches. The enrichments of these capitals
correspond with those indicated by Ure in his view, and he informs us
that the pillars, of which there were five on each side, “are smooth and
round, except the middle ones, which are octagonal.” He further says
that the arcade “arches are pointed, but the point is hardly
discernible,” and with this the view in his book agrees. Above the
arcade he shows a small square window, probably measuring about 2 feet
each way, and widely splayed inside. Immediately above this was the
roof. The walls were “about 20 feet high, including the pillars on which
they are supported.” It is satisfactory to find Ure’s description of the
church supported by the
Fig. 337.—St. Mary’s, Rutherglen. Tower, &c.
remaining fragments. The lower member, shown in Fig. 338, is a carved
stone, probably part of the chancel arch. It is enriched with the
alternate billet ornaments so frequent in such arches during the Norman
period.
The church was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and was granted to the
Abbey of Paisley by William the Lion before the year 1189, and it
continued in their possession down to the period of the Reformation.
There were several altars, with endowed chaplains.
Fig. 338.—St. Mary’s, Rutherglen. Norman Caps.
The church stands near the west end of the cemetery, on the north side
of the main street. The entrance from the street is through a
picturesque lych-gate of Renaissance design, dated 1663. (See Fig. 337.)
It is surmounted by a sundial, dated 1679.
The cemetery is mentioned in the charters of Paisley (No. 85) in the
year 1262, when the widow of John of Perthie grants to Paisley a piece
of land lying between the church of the Virgin Mary and the river
Clyde.
The Norman doorway of this ancient church is still preserved. The church
has been altered and the doorway built up; but, doubtless, some of the
old walls still exist.
The church and village were founded by one Lambin, in the twelfth
century. The doorway (Fig. 339) is in the north wall of the church. It
Fig. 339.—Lamington Church. North Doorway.
is an elaborate example to find in this remote and quiet pastoral
district. The arch mouldings and ornaments are well preserved, but,
unfortunately, the shafts are wanting. The caps are quite plain. There
are three orders of mouldings, all enriched with characteristic Norman
ornaments. It will be observed that in that of the outer order the
spaces between the rings gradually diminish from the caps to the crown
of the arch.
The Church of St. Boswells stands near the right bank of the Tweed, at a
point about half-way between the village of Lessudden and Maxton Railway
Station. The village of St. Boswells is stated to have formerly stood
near the church, but it has gradually and entirely disappeared, and the
nearest village to the church is now Lessudden, which is fully a mile
off. The situation is very fine, and the views of the Tweed, with its
wooded banks, in the vicinity are very beautiful.
Fig. 340.—St. Boswells Church. Fragments.
The place is of great antiquity, and is supposed to have derived its
name from Eadwine of Northumbria. The church, which has been entirely
rebuilt, contains a few small relics of the Norman edifice which
undoubtedly once stood on the site. These consist of some carved corbels
(Fig. 340) and other fragments, which are evidently of Norman date, and
which have been preserved by being built into the restored church.
The Church of Lessudden was bestowed on Dryburgh Abbey in the middle of
the twelfth century.
As in Berwickshire, so in Roxburghshire, a large number of Norman
churches were erected during the Norman period. We have not attempted to
compile a list of these, as in most cases almost no trace of them now
remains, or so little that it can only be detected by an antiquarian.
There is, for example, the Church of Hassendean, of which Cardonell
gives a view of the chancel arch, granted by David I. to the Bishop of
Glasgow. This, judging from Cardonell’s view, must have been a rich and
important structure, with an eastern end similar to what we
Fig. 341.—Smailholm Church. Plan, and View from
South-East.
find existing at Leuchars and Dalmeny. The Church of Upper Crailing was
granted in 1147 to the Abbey of Jedburgh; and at the same time Ganfrid
de Percy grants to the same abbey the lands adjacent to the Church of
Oxenham; and Ranulph de Sulis at the same time gives to the abbey the
Church of Castletown, and a little later in the century the Church of
Hownam and Eckford are similarly bestowed. The Church of Smailholm (Fig.
341) is distinctly a Norman structure throughout its entire length.
David I. granted the manor of Smailholm to David Olifard, and in the
ancient Taxatio (beginning of the thirteenth century) the Church of
Smailholm was rated at 45 marks. Walter Olifard, who died in 1242, gave
the Church of Smailholm to Coldingham Priory.
Merely the shell of this building is Norman. It was greatly altered in
the seventeenth century, when probably the chancel arch was cut out; and
in later times it has suffered severely, so that all its original
architectural details have been destroyed.
The church consists of a nave, about 46 feet 6 inches long by 17 feet 3
inches wide; a chancel, 25 feet 9 inches long by 14 feet wide—being a
total length of about 72 feet 3 inches. The present doorway to the nave
is, doubtless, in the position of the original one, and has been
enlarged. The chancel doorway is of the seventeenth century, and the
windows adjoining are probably enlargements of the originals made at the
same time. There were no windows in the north wall, and one in the west
wall is quite modern.
There is a sundial on the south-west corner, bearing the date 1622,
which date is probably the date of the alterations referred to and of
the erection of the belfry.
This church stands about six miles south from Kelso, and one mile and
a-half from Morebattle. It occupies part of a sandy mound on which, at
one time, there also stood the Castle of Linton. There was a church
Fig. 342.—Linton Church. Tympanum in Porch.
here at an early date, records of Linton Church being found as far back
as 1127. It was then presented to the Monks of Kelso by Sir Richard
Cumin for the salvation of the soul of Prince Henry, eldest son of David
I. The lands of Linton soon after passed into the hands of the
Somervilles, as the reward granted to William de Somerville for having
destroyed a worm or dragon which had long been the terror of the
neighbourhood. This exploit is traditionally commemorated in a sculpture
in
Fig. 343.—Linton Church. View from South-East.
the tympanum of the doorway of the ancient church (Fig. 342), in which
the knight is represented on horseback thrusting his spear into the
mouth of the monster. It seems more likely, however, that the sculpture
has rather an ecclesiastical connection, and may possibly represent St.
George
Fig. 344.—Linton Church. Plan.
and the Dragon, being an allegorical representation of religion, or
faith overcoming evil. Possibly, the existence of the sculpture may have
given rise to the traditional account of it. In 1858, this sculpture was
removed from the old doorway and inserted over the entrance to a new
porch, then erected. The porch is seen in the sketch of the church.
(Fig. 343.) This sculptured tympanum is remarkable as one of the few
examples of sculpture in a similar position in Scotland.
There is also a Norman font connected with the church, which was long
used in a blacksmith’s shop.
The walls of the church are old, but it has been almost entirely
restored and renewed. (Fig. 344.)
Not a stone of this church now remains. The chancel existed till the
year 1874 as a burial vault, when the minister of the parish, “under the
pretext of improving the churchyard,”[187] had it removed. The greater
Fig. 345.—Duns Church. Plan.
part of the church was taken down in 1790, when a new church was built
on its site. We are enabled by the kindness of Mr. Ferguson, Duns, to
give a copy of an old plan which appears in his work on the Churches of
Berwickshire, and to the same source we are indebted for the following
historical notes regarding it.
The Rectory of Duns is mentioned in Bayamund’s Roll (1275), and in the
ancient Taxatio (end of the twelfth century) the parish is rated at
110 merks; so that it must have been a building of considerable
antiquity and importance.
In 1296, the Rector, Henry de Lematon, took the oath of allegiance to
Edward I.
From a photograph in Mr. Ferguson’s possession, of what remains of the
walls of the chancel the masonry looks very like Norman work. If one
might judge from the plan (Fig. 345), it evidently consisted of a long
nave and a chancel, with a north and south aisle or wing not opposite
each other, and probably built at later periods, such as are common in
connection with Scottish churches. The nave was about 72 feet long by
about 19 feet wide. The chancel was almost a square of about 17 feet,
thus corresponding with the Norman chancels of Ledgerwood and
Duddingston.
The two narrow and widely splayed windows seen in the east gable
indicate early work, as do also the north and south doors near the west
end of the nave; the other numerous openings, especially of doorways,
were probably alterations.
In the course of some recent operations on this church under the
superintendence of Mr. T. S. Robertson, architect, Dundee, it was
discovered that it had been a Norman structure. Of the original building
not much now remains, except the ashlar walls and a narrow window with a
wide internal splay and an outside check for a shutter. This window is
situated near the east end of the north wall.
The apse appears to have been taken down, in 1786, during some
alterations, and the chancel arch, indicated in the sketch (Fig. 346),
was built up. A tomb house was erected on the site of the apse, where it
Fig. 346.—Lundie Church in 1786.
still remains. The building was of small dimensions, being about 40 feet
long by 18 feet 6 inches wide.
The fragment, of which a sketch (Fig. 347) is annexed, was found built
in a wall near the church. It appears to have been the top of a
sacrament house of late date.
The church, which belonged to the Priory of St. Andrews, was dedicated
to St. Lawrence, Martyr. In the early taxations of the Priory it is
described as “the Church and Chapel of Lundie.”
Fig. 347.—Sacrament House, Lundie.
The parish of Kirkmaiden has long been incorporated with that of
Glasserton. Formerly Kirkmaiden formed the port of Whithorn, and its
roofless church still stands close to the burial-ground near the
sea-shore.
It consists (Fig. 348) of a nave, 37 feet 6 inches long by 18 feet wide
internally, and the walls are 4 feet in thickness. They are little
reduced from their original height, and the west gable is also little
diminished.
Fig. 348.—Kirkmaiden Church. Plan.
There are only three openings in the walls—viz., a doorway and two
windows, all in the south wall. These were, till recently, greatly
destroyed, but they have been restored by Mr. Galloway,[188] who has no
doubt, judging from what remained, that they were all originally
round-headed, and has rebuilt them accordingly.
So far as these indications go, this would appear to have been a Norman
church. There is an apparent chancel at the east end, but its dimensions
and origin are not distinct. It is now appropriated as the “Monreith
Vault” (the mansion of that name being in the vicinity), and contains a
good deal of modern work.
One peculiarity of the east chamber is, that the north wall is in line
with the north wall of the nave, while the south wall is set back four
feet from the line of the south wall of the nave.
There is an arch between the nave and chancel, but it has not the
appearance of a genuine chancel arch, being rudely formed with thin
slatey stones. A wing, 14 feet long by 12 feet wide, is jutted out at
the back or north side of the chancel. The walls are little over 2 feet
in thickness. There is a square-headed doorway in the south-west angle,
and an ambry or recess in the north wall. A roughly-built archway,
similar to that into the nave, but smaller, opened from the nave into
the north aisle, but is now built up.
The nave seems to be of Norman date. The choir has evidently been
altered at a late period, and the north wing or aisle may have been
built in post-Reformation times as a burial vault.
The ground to the north rises rapidly, and was filled in to the height
of the walls, till cleared out by Mr. Galloway.
There would appear to have been some kind of extension to the west, but
only the lower parts of walls and buttresses now remain. This portion
was also filled with earth, and on being cleared out, remains of ten
skeletons were discovered. This west wall is at the extremity of a long
retaining wall, which encloses the present burying-ground, and runs
along close above the shore.
The place is very curious and romantic, lying near the sea at the foot
of high cliffs, and densely wooded all round.
This is one of the few minor relics of the Norman period which have
descended to our time. It stands in the burial vault of the Sinclairs of
Herdmanston, adjoining the mansion house of that name, about five miles
west from Haddington.
The font is of yellow freestone, in one piece, and although somewhat
worn and battered in part, is still in a good state of preservation. The
base is partly damaged, and the surface of the top is somewhat broken
away towards the front (Fig. 349), so that it measures a little higher
at the back than at the front.
As will be seen from the Plan (Fig. 350), the central part consists of
four rounded shafts, having a boldly pronounced base moulding. The
basin is in the form of a Norman cushion capital, with four rounds on
each face, the abacus having a splayed projection of about a quarter of
an inch. The font has evidently been meant to be placed against a wall,
as all its parts—base, shaft, and capital—abut against a square haffit
perfectly plain on the back, to admit of its standing in such a
position. The ends of this haffit are very much broken.
The dimensions of the font are—base, 7 inches high; shaft, 17 inches;
capital, 11 inches; total height, 2 feet 11 inches. Width across shafts,
13¼ inches; capital, 16¾ inches across front, and from back to front,
Fig. 349.—Herdmanston Font.
including haffit, 17¼ inches. The basin, which is rounded (see Plan), is
11¾ inches wide by 5 inches in depth. It is flat in the bottom and has
no perforation.
In the thirteenth century, John de Saint Clair erected a chapel at
Herdmanston by leave of the Canons of Dryburgh, to whom he granted two
acres of land, with a condition that his chapel should not injure the
mother church of Salton, which belonged, in the time of David I., to
Dryburgh Abbey.[189]
The vault at Herdmanston stands east and west. It is about 31 feet 10
inches long by 14 feet wide, and has a small west window, with a
sconsion arch on the inside, and a smaller window in the south wall.
The structure, which is barrel vaulted, is of considerable age, but it
is not the chapel erected in the thirteenth century; and as the font is
a work of
Fig. 350.—Herdmanston Font. Details.
the twelfth century, it is evident that it was not made for the chapel
of Herdmanston.
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