In the south wall, and in the usual position near the east end, there are remains of a triple sedilia, much damaged, but having shafts between the seats, with moulded caps (Fig. 671). There is also a piscina in a pointed recess, having a trefoil headed niche in the wall behind, all much damaged (see Fig. 671).
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Fig. 669.—Lismore Cathedral. Interior Terminal of South Doorway. |
Fig. 670.—Lismore Cathedral. North Doorway. |
In the exterior of the north wall, and near the buttress at the east end, there has been an ambry. This ambry, together with the absence of buttresses on the north side, seems to indicate that there was a building on that side, probably in the form of an aisle, connected with the cathedral. The eastmost portion was probably the sacristy, which would enter by the north doorway. On the south side of the church the wall, with its buttresses (see Fig. 668), has evidently been the exterior of the church. It contains a segmental headed modern window in each bay. The south buttress of the east wall is widened at the lower part, and contains a round arched recess, in which there has probably been a monument. The east end has been greatly altered, and has had a staircase block built against it, and a gallery door and high window inserted.
The western wall, with its doorway, which has plain sloping jambs all covered with rough-cast, is, doubtless, a comparatively recent construction, built when the choir was converted into the parish church and reroofed in 1749.
There are traces of old buildings to the west, which are now used as private burial-grounds, but it is impossible to say what purpose they formerly served.
The Parish Church of Lanark existed in the twelfth century, and was conveyed, with its possessions, to the Abbey of Dryburgh by David I. This conveyance is frequently confirmed in subsequent deeds.
The church, from time to time, received numerous gifts of lands and houses from the burgesses and the neighbouring proprietors. Amongst other endowments, a chaplaincy was founded in the beginning of the fifteenth century by John Simpson, burgess of the town. The income of the church and its lands was drawn by the monks of Dryburgh, and the cure was served by a vicar and curates. At the Reformation the lands went with the Abbey of Dryburgh, which was erected into a temporal barony.[102]
The Church of St. Kentigern was used for service long after the Reformation, and was only abandoned when a new church was erected in the middle of the town in 1777.
St. Kentigern’s stands in the old burial-ground, about one-quarter of a mile south-east from the town. It has been of an unusual arrangement of plan (Fig. 672), consisting of a double chamber, divided by a row of pillars and arches down the centre, each division possibly, and one division certainly, having a chancel at the east end. The northern division has almost entirely disappeared, but the central row of pillars and arches (Fig. 673) and the walls of the southern division are still fairly preserved. At the point A on Plan is the base of a doorway shaft (Fig. 674), which was discovered some years ago by excavation. This possibly represents the north doorway of the church. If so, the north division was about 2 feet wider than the south division. The south division is 74 feet in length by 20 feet in width internally. The five pillars are alternately round and octagonal, and the two responds are half octagons. The caps (Fig. 675) are of varied and good design, and the arches have a double splay on each side.
The south wall (Fig. 676) contains the relics of a fine first pointed doorway, and five narrow lancet windows with wide splayed reveals inside. The doorway has had two nook shafts on each side, with markedly first pointed foliage in the caps (Fig. 677), and the pointed arch has bold and characteristic mouldings (Fig. 678). The west wall (see Fig. 673) has been much ruined, and is now restored. At the east end there is a chancel arch fully 8 feet in width. The responds which support it are half octagons, and the arch has a double splay on each side. There are traces of small nail-head ornaments on the caps. All the details point to the work being of the first pointed period. The chancel is entirely gone, but the marks on the wall show that it has been about twelve feet in width. There is a small lancet window, with wide internal splay, in the east wall to the south of the chancel arch, and the latter is placed close to the central row of pillars. This arrangement seems to have been adopted so as to bring the chancel as near the centre of the church as possible, perhaps with the view of enabling it to serve as the chancel for the whole church, as there may have been no chancel to the east of the northern division. But this point could only be ascertained by excavation. To the east of the northern division, where a chancel might have been, there has been erected (probably in the seventeenth century) a mausoleum or tombhouse for the family of the Lockharts of Lee. This rather seems to support the idea that there was no chancel in that position.
At Kirkton, a village lying a short way north of Burntisland, there stand, in an old churchyard, the remains of an ancient church, believed to have been dedicated to St. Adamnan or St. Serf. The church (Fig. 679) consists of a nave and chancel and remains of a south aisle. The nave measures 41 feet 9 inches in length by 20 feet 6 inches in width externally, and the chancel is 27 feet 6 inches long by 17 feet 9 inches wide externally. The chancel is architecturally distinguished from the nave being diminished by 14 inches in width on each side, and the chancel arch is pointed, with an opening 7 feet 8 inches wide, and consists of a single plain order springing from imposts having a simple splay (Fig. 680). The jambs of the opening are plain, and have a splayed base. The opening has been built up so as to enclose the chancel for a private burial-place. The chancel contains the usual priests’ door in the south wall, and two narrow pointed windows on the same side, greatly splayed to the interior. It is remarkable that there is no window in the east end, and the north wall is also blank.
The south wall of the nave has been removed, probably when a south aisle was added. Its place was, doubtless, at one time supplied by pillars and arches, but they are now gone. Part of the outer wall of the south aisle still remains. To the south of this there is a small building, which may have been a sacristy, or perhaps a tombhouse.
The north door to the nave is still partly preserved, and there was probably a south door opposite it. In the west end, which still exists (see Fig. 680), there is a simple pointed window, greatly splayed within.
The walls are built with freestone ashlar. All the features seem to indicate that the church was erected in the thirteenth century, although it has been surmised that it was rebuilt in the fifteenth century. The simplicity of the chancel arch and the absence of an east window are against that supposition.
This church, like several others in the eastern part of this county, is dedicated to St. Baldred of the Bass Rock.[103] It is situated within a mile of East Linton Railway Station. The church has originally been a first pointed edifice, but now there only survives a small eastern choir of that period, the main body of the church having been rebuilt. The choir (Fig. 681), which is now cut off from the church by a solid wall, is 15 feet long by 17 feet 6 inches wide internally. It has three tall lancet windows of equal height in the east end (Fig. 683), separated by first pointed buttresses of good form, as seen in the detailed sketch (Fig. 682). The south wall has two simple lancets with hood moulds, and on both sides there is a broad set-off below the windows. The north wall is plain, and without special features. The building is a pleasing fragment of first pointed work.
This ruined structure, is situated near the coast on the north side of Stonehaven Bay, about a mile from the town, and stands in an ancient churchyard still in use. This church is an example of a simple oblong structure in the first pointed style. It measures (Fig. 684) 70 feet in length by 18 feet in width internally. The walls are built with whinstone, and the door and window dressings are of freestone. The north wall is broken down to near the level of the ground. The interior has been lighted by three lancet windows in the east end, and there has also been a stunted window inserted in the west gable. The doorway is the only opening in the south wall which is still partly entire. It has a segmental arched lintel, and is moulded on the outer angle of jambs and lintel. The moulding (Fig. 685) would indicate a late period. The north wall is broken down almost to the foundations. There is a plain sacrament house in the north wall near the east end.
The three lancet windows in the east end (Fig. 686) are the only features with noticeable details. They are of different heights, and are arranged in good proportion. The external jambs and arches have an outer splay (see section, Fig. 687), inside of which they are checked for shutters, the windows having never been glazed. The arched heads have pointed and splayed rear arches and wide ingoings (Fig. 688).
This monastery was situated in a beautiful valley on the banks of the river Ugie, one mile and a quarter south-west of Mintlaw Railway Station. It was founded in the year 1218 by William, the first Earl of Buchan, who, by his marriage in 1210 to Marjory, the only child of the last Mormaer of Buchan, became the founder in the north of the powerful family of the Cumyns. He died in the year 1233, and was buried in the abbey. In consequence of the accession of the Earl of Carrick to the Scottish throne, the Cumyn family, who had opposed the Bruce, were so completely overthrown that, says Fordun, “of a name which numbered at one time three earls and more than thirty belted knights, there remained no memorial in the land, save the orisons of the Monks of Deir.” Now not one stone of the abbey church is left standing, and only a few fragments of the conventual buildings remain. This is much to be regretted, especially as it is known that considerable remains of the church existed down till 1854.
About the year 580 a church was founded in Deer by St. Columba and his nephew Drostan, on ground supplied by the Mormaer of the district as a return for the prayers of the saint in favour of his sick child. This Columban establishment survived till the time of David I., and was superseded by the monastery founded, as above stated, by the Earl of Buchan for a colony of monks of the Cistercian order from Kinloss. The site of the church (Fig. 689) is marked on the ground by an excavation over its whole area. The structure consisted of a nave about 98 feet long by 40 feet wide, including a north aisle, an aisleless choir or presbytery about 25 feet long and 24 feet wide, and north and south transepts. The total length of the church over all was 157 feet. The nave had a north aisle, and was divided into five bays. The bases of the pillars remained in position till 1854. The south transept was 39 feet wide, or about 6 feet 2 inches wider than the northern one, and it had probably a narrow eastern aisle.
The conventual buildings lay on the south side of the church, and are built on ground sloping southwards towards the Ugie, so that a basement story was required. The interior of the whole range of buildings is so overgrown with vegetation and filled with debris that it is with the utmost difficulty one can make his way through the ruins, and thus an accurate examination of the place is hardly possible.
The cloister was about 70 feet from north to south by about 90 feet from east to west. On the south side there is a range of buildings about 125 feet long by 31 feet wide, divided into four apartments, forming the basement story, over which the refectory was probably built. To the east of this, lying north and south, is the fratry, measuring 35 feet in length by about 19 feet in width inside. Projecting southwards beyond the fratry by its full width a long range of buildings extends 80 feet eastwards, and measures about 21 feet in width over the walls. At the west end of this range there is an apartment about 20 feet from east to west by about 16 feet wide, which may probably have been the kitchen. In the north wall of this apartment there is a flue about 10 inches square. The room enters from a passage adjoining on the east side. There appears to have been a stair in this passage leading down to the lower buildings, and probably up to the dormitory, but the block of ruins at this part is so great as to render further observation impossible. Of the buildings which occupied the east side of the cloister all traces have now disappeared.
It is highly probable that the church was completed before the monks erected any permanent dwelling for themselves, and this may partly account for the resignation of the tenth abbot, Dene Adam of Smalham, a monk of Melrose, who demitted office in 1267, “choosing rather to live in the sweet converse of his brethren of Melrose, than to Govern an unworthy flock, under the lowly roofs of Deir.”[105]
All the conventual buildings now existing are of a date subsequent to the founding of the abbey, but under the circumstances already narrated, and from the absence of mouldings, it is somewhat difficult to fix their period. The openings are all round arched and simply splayed. The doorway into the passage adjoining the kitchen has a carved keystone (Fig. 690), a rather unusual feature in Gothic work. The carving, which is cut in granite, is decidedly Gothic in feeling, although in all probability late. There exists a view of the abbey as it existed in 1770.[106] The view appears to have been taken from the south, although it is rather difficult to fix the point of view; but, assuming that it is from the south, it shows the north wall of the building just described as in a much better state of preservation than it is now, and the south wall as rather more ruinous. We understand that the north wall was repaired sometime in this century. Judging from the view and from the remains, the south elevation seems to have been finished with a series of gables, having round-arched and splayed windows. Only a few fragments of the church remain, and there can be no doubt as to their period. They are genuine relics of the original church founded in the thirteenth century. The principal fragment consists of two cusped arches (Fig. 691), probably forming the top of a sedilia. They measure in width 1 foot 10½ inches each by 2 feet 3½ inches high inside, and are recessed about 12 inches.
Three or four corbels of the characteristic first pointed kind are preserved; one of these is shown in Fig. 692.
The only other wrought stone belonging to the church is a very peculiar one. It lies loose, and appears to have contained a double piscina—one having its basin supported by a projecting corbel in the ordinary manner, and the other with its basin and corbel turned upside down. Its construction will be understood from the sketch (Fig. 693). In the one basin, which may be called the upper, the aperture proceeds from a sprout at the back, and emerges in the centre of the lower basin. The upper basin is 7 inches deep and the lower 3½ inches. The other dimensions will be seen on the drawings, with sections of the respective corbels.
Adjoining the ruins is the Abbey Bridge, spanning the Ugie. It is a quaint structure, and may be partly as old as the remains of the conventual buildings; but it appears to have been repaired or partly rebuilt, as it contains the arms of James Keith of Bruxie, with the date 1718.
This church is situated in a beautiful bend of the river Ugie, in the churchyard of the village of Deer, and is rather more than a mile distant from the abbey. It is roofless, but the walls stand at about their original height, and consist of a nave and chancel (Fig. 694). The nave is of an unusual form, being wider than it is long; but it is probable that it was originally longer than it now is. The exterior width is 26 feet 10 inches, and the length 24 feet 3 inches. The chancel is 37 feet 7 inches long by 16 feet 9 inches wide externally. It is separated from the nave by a wall containing a round splayed arch, 7 feet 6 inches wide, and (owing to the present level of the ground) only 6 feet 6 inches high in the centre. The level of the floor was, doubtless, originally a foot or two lower. The present entrance doorway to the nave is modern, and is in the centre of the west end. There are the marks of an old doorway in the north wall, which show a plain arched construction inside, and in this a window has been inserted at a late period. Another square-headed window in the south wall completes the lighting of the nave. There has also been a square-headed doorway in the south wall. There are two piscinas in the nave—one adjoining the chancel arch on the north, and having its basin in the depth of the recess; the other (Fig. 695), in the south wall, had a projecting basin, which is now sliced off. The most interesting and perfect feature of the church is the locker or ambry in the north wall of the nave (Fig. 696). The top is of a drop-arched form. The arch and the jambs and sill are checked for a door in the usual manner. Above the door, and visible whether the door was shut or open, is a pointed arch with a kind of rude tracery enclosing a cross pattee cut out of grey granite. The locker is 13 inches wide.
Sockets in the wall at the springing of the chancel arch (see Fig. 697) indicate the former existence of a rood screen. In the south side of the chancel there remain the indications of a stair which led up to a narrow door, now built up, the sill of which is at about the level of the springing of the chancel arch (Fig. 698). Unless this led to some kind of pulpit from which an audience in the nave could be addressed, it is difficult to determine its use. The wall here on the nave side is so completely covered with ivy that this point could not be made out.
The walls appear to have been in part rebuilt, especially the south wall of the chancel near the east end, where there are visible, both outside and inside, stones having fifteenth or sixteenth century rosettes carved on them. In the east wall there is a finely carved heraldic stone (Fig. 699) with the arms effaced.
There is an arched recess for a monument (Fig. 700) on the exterior of the south side of the nave at the west end, which can hardly be seen for the dense growth of ivy. The sculptured stones and coat of arms are evidently insertions.
Deer is the site of a very early monastery, founded by St. Columba, of which the venerable Book of Deer is the only remaining memorial. It was written in the ninth century, and contains the Gospel of St. John, with portions of the other gospels, and notes on the margins relating to the monastery written in Gaelic at a later period. The existing church has no connection with this ancient monastery further than that it probably occupies the same position. It was, doubtless, erected about the fifteenth century.
The ruined church of Auchindoir is situated in a remote part of Upper Aberdeenshire, about six miles south-west from Kennethmont Station, between Insch and Huntly. It stands on a slight elevation near the mouth of the Craig Burn, which joins the river Bogie a short
distance below. It has been pointed out by Mr. Jervise[107] that the orientation of the church is peculiar, as it stands more north and south than east and west; but in the following description the usual orientation is assumed. The church is a simple oblong (Fig. 701), measuring 50 feet in length by 19 feet 6 inches in width internally. Mr. Jervise thinks it has been added to at the west end, and it has at least been altered at that point, and a belfry added on the top of the gable (Fig. 702). The rest of the building has also been considerably altered, and a doorway inserted in the east end and square windows introduced to make it suitable for Presbyterian worship.
Towards the west end there are two doorways, opposite one another, in the north and south walls. That in the south wall (Fig. 703) is a fine specimen of early first pointed work. The round arch is retained (as is common in Scotland), but the details are all of first pointed design. The section of the jamb and arch mouldings (Fig. 704) and the dog-tooth enrichment of the label are clear indications of that style. Mr. Jervise doubts whether these features are genuine, and suspects that they are late imitations of the first pointed style; but Mr. Muir has no doubt about the doorway being of “late transition work, belonging, apparently, to that precise period in the progress of the art when the already softened features of the Normans were beginning to merge altogether into the still more flexible and varied forms of the first pointed style.” This opinion is confirmed by all the features of the doorway. The bold foliaged caps on each side (of which the detached shafts are gone) are undoubted proofs of the genuine nature of the work. This doorway could never have been produced in later times.
The north doorway is simple, having a plain round arch with a splay on edge, and a recess for a bolt in the ingoing.
The church contains a simple piscina in the south wall, and a very elaborate ambry, or sacrament house (Fig. 705), in the north wall near the east end. The decorated adjuncts of this ambry are about 6 feet in height. The opening is moulded, and has a quasi buttress on each side, crowned with a crocketed pinnacle in a late style of art. A pointed roof, or flat canopy, rises over the ambry, having on the top a representation of the crucifixion, with a skull carved at the base; over the cross is a scroll bearing the letters I N R I. There are two scrolls on the roof, carved with the inscription, HIC·Ē CORP DUĒ C V M, and on the sill of the ambry, M·A·S·, which inscription Mr. Jervise renders thus: “Here is the body of our Lord, with Mary, the Apostles, and Saints.” The ambry has an inner recess on the left side.
This work is evidently very late in style, but it can scarcely be so late as Mr. Jervise supposes. He says:—“I am inclined to ascribe the erection of the Sacrament House, if not the Kirk, of Auchindoir to the laird and lady whose arms and initials are upon shields within it. One of these shields, dated 1557, bears the Gordon arms and motto, HOIP IN
GOD; the second, initialed V·G:C·C·, presents the arms of Gordon and Cheyne, impaled with the motto, GRACE ME GYID.”
There can be no doubt that Mr. Jervise is in error as to the church being erected in 1557; but it was probably altered at that date, as the eastern or priests’ doorway in the south wall (which is now square headed, and has a transome and upper light over it) bears the date 1557. That was probably the time when the church was altered for Presbyterian worship. The sculptured ambry was probably executed in the early part of the sixteenth century, before the Reformation.
In 1513-14 the Church of Auchindoir was erected into a prebend of King’s College Chapel, Aberdeen. That would be a likely time for the introduction of the sacrament house. The building continued to be employed for divine service till 1810, when a new church was erected in the neighbourhood. The old churchyard which surrounds the old church is still used for interment.
When this church ceased to be used for service, the roof and woodwork were sold, and some of the panelling, including the back of the pulpit, which is carved with shields, is preserved in a farmhouse in the vicinity.
These two ruined churches are situated within a mile of one another on the level ground near the sea, which forms the basin of the river Ayr, near its mouth.
Prestwick is an ancient town, which had a parish church; while Monkton derived its name from the residence of a body of monks from Paisley. Both St. Nicholas’ and St. Cuthbert’s were originally churches of Prestwick, and were distinguished as Prestwick de Burgo and Prestwick Monachorum. Both these churches were bestowed on Paisley Abbey, in 1163, by Walter, son of the Great Steward of Scotland, and endowed with valuable lands.
Prestwick Church is mentioned in the Paisley Chartulary, in 1212, as a chapel; Monkton continued as a rectory till the Reformation, and the two parishes were united in the beginning of the seventeenth century. Till 1837 both churches were used for public worship.[108]
The Church of St. Cuthbert (Fig. 706), at Monkton, has originally been a simple oblong chamber, 46 feet in length by about 20 feet in width internally. The walls of this part of the structure are undoubtedly ancient, but they have been considerably altered, and a north wing has been added after the Reformation. The belfry (Fig. 707) erected at that period still exists on the east gable.
The only portion of the building which proves its antiquity is the doorway in the south wall (Fig. 708). It has a round arch, but the mouldings are of thirteenth century forms. There has been a nook shaft on each side with bell-shaped caps, and an inner order with a large roll. This fragment is precious as one of the few ancient features which have escaped obliteration in this part of the country.
St. Nicholas’ stands on a mound close to Prestwick Railway Station, and is surrounded by an ancient burying-ground. The church (Fig. 709) is a simple oblong, 44 feet long by 20 feet wide within the walls. It is a very plain structure, and has evidently been altered, having square-headed windows (Fig. 710) inserted so as to render it suitable for Presbyterian service. The only noticeable features are the buttresses at the east end. There are two of these, one at each side and a small one in the centre, which are massive and present the appearance of early work. Doubtless they and the walls are old, but have been altered. There has been a plain belfry on the east gable, now reduced to a portion of the base. There are three small buttresses at the west end, but they are of a slighter character than those at the east end.