The ancient city of St. Andrews, formerly the ecclesiastical metropolis
of Scotland, is now reduced to a small, but interesting, town, full of
the remains of its former grandeur.
Situated at the eastern point of Fifeshire, on level ground, raised a
considerable height above the sea, and surrounded with a rocky coast,
there is little in the nature of the site to impress the beholder; but
as seen in approaching from the west, the remains of the ancient
edifices, with their ruined towers standing out against the sky, produce
an impression of departed greatness which accords well with the
venerable and stirring history of the place.
There are vague traditions of the site having been occupied by an
ancient hermit at a very early period;[13] but St. Andrews was not
recognised as the see of a bishop till about 950, when Cellach, the
first bishop, was appointed. After him there followed ten Culdee
bishops, the last being Fothad, by whom the marriage of Malcolm Canmore
and Queen Margaret was celebrated.
The dedication of the cathedral to St. Andrew is involved in fable; but
Dr. Skene[14] thinks that the church was founded between 736 and 761,
and that portions of the relics of St. Andrew were brought to the place
at that time, probably, as tradition has it, by Acca, Bishop of
Northumbria, who was banished from that country in 732, and is believed
to have founded a church amongst the Picts. The author of _Celtic
Scotland_ points to the similarity of the events which succeeded one
another in Northumbria and in Southern Pictland in the eighth century.
In the former country the Columban Church was expelled and secular
clergy introduced; the Church of Hexham was dedicated to St. Andrew, and
his relics were received there. In the latter country, sixty years
later, the Picts expelled the Columbans and introduced the secular
clergy, while at the same time they received part of the relics of St.
Andrew, and founded a church in his honour, St. Andrew afterwards
becoming the national patron saint.
After the death of Fothad, the last Bishop of Alban, in 1093, the see of
St. Andrews remained vacant till 1107, when Turgot, Queen Margaret’s
chaplain and biographer, was appointed to the bishopric.
In 1158-59, Arnald, Abbot of Kelso, was consecrated Bishop of St.
Andrews. That prelate immediately set about the building of the
cathedral, but he died in 1162, when the work was scarcely begun. The
structure progressed under his successors, and probably the whole,
including the west end, was finished in little more than a century after
its commencement. The original west end, having been blown down by a
tempest of wind, was rebuilt by Bishop William Wiseheart (or Wishart)
between 1272 and 1279. It is usually stated that the cathedral occupied
160 years in building, but it would appear to have been entirely erected
from east to west on the ground it now occupies in about 115 years.
The Cathedral of St. Andrews was also the conventual church of the
priory of Canons Regular of St. Augustine, which was founded by Bishop
Robert about the year 1120; but of the conventual buildings erected at
that time there are now no remains. The church of St. Regulus, however,
which was probably erected by him, still survives.[15] The bishop was,
_ex officio_, the prior of the monastery.
The structures erected by the various succeeding bishops and archbishops
are noticed as we proceed.
In 1559 the cathedral was attacked by the mob and greatly destroyed, and
thereafter became a general quarry for public use. In 1826 the Barons of
Exchequer took possession of the ruins and had the rubbish cleared away,
and what remained of the structure put in good order, the bases of the
piers, where they existed, being brought to light, and the outline of
the ancient buildings marked out in the turf.
A property adjoining the cathedral having recently been acquired by the
Marquis of Bute, excavations on the site of the priory have been carried
out by him, under the superintendence of Mr. J. Kinross, architect, and
considerable remains of the foundations of the ancient monastic
buildings have been disclosed to view.
The cathedral, of which the ruins still exist (Fig. 441), consisted of a
short aisleless presbytery and a choir of five bays with side aisles,
having an eastern chapel in each aisle; north and south transepts, each
of three bays, with eastern aisles; a nave of twelve bays with north and
south aisles;
[Illustration: FIG. 441.--St. Andrews Cathedral. Plan.]
and a large central tower over the crossing. The interior dimensions of
the edifice were as follow:--Total length, 355 feet; width of nave, 63
feet; length of transepts, 167 feet 6 inches; width of transepts, 43
feet 2 inches.
The older surviving portions show some remains of the transition style,
but the principal parts of the structure have been carried out in the
first pointed style. The remains of the choir piers clearly indicate
that that style has prevailed in the choir, and the beautiful entrance
to the chapter house gives some idea of the boldness and vigour of the
first pointed work which, doubtless, extended throughout the building.
The cathedral has been very greatly ruined, but some portions have
escaped destruction. Of these the east end wall still stands, but
without its gable, and one half of the west end wall is entire. Besides
these, the south wall of the nave, the west and south walls of the south
transept for a considerable height, portions of other walls and
foundations, and certain of the pillars to a few feet above the bases,
are all that now survive of this once splendid structure. The east end
of the choir, and the south transept and nave as far west as the fourth
bay of the nave, show some lingering traces of the Transition style; and
in portions of the nave, as far as the cloister doorway in the third bay
from the west end, the lower part of the wall half-way up to the window
sills, is of the same period. This is evident from the flat band,
chamfered at top and bottom, which runs along thus far, and is a
characteristic feature of early work.
The building of the western portion by Wishart is described with
considerable minuteness in the _Orygynale Cronykill_, by Andrew Wyntown,
who was a canon of the priory. He says (Vol. I., p. 390):--
“Wilyhame Wyschard wes blessyd in Scone.
Sevyn yhere and a half wes he
Byschape, and gert byggyt be
Nere all the body of the Kyrke:
Quhare that he begowth to wyrk,
Yhit men may the Taknys se
Apper and be affinnetè,
Ewyn owth[16] the thryd Pillare
Frá the Chawnselare Dure[17] sene thare;
Báth wndyre, and owth that south part,
And the north syd swá westwart,
And that west Gáivil alsuá
In-til hys tyme all gert he má.
And bot of hys Ethchettis[18] hále
Hys Kyrk he endyd Cathedyrale,
Bath in the Stane, and Thak, and Tre
The body of hys Kyrk thus he
In all thyng gert be byggyt welle,
That langyt til it ilke dele.”
[Illustration: FIG. 442.--St. Andrews Cathedral. Original East End.]
Nothing is said about an earlier west end, but the description applies
well to the later upper story of the south wall (see Fig. 448) and the
lower story of the west end of the nave (see Fig. 450).
[Illustration: FIG. 443.--St. Andrews Cathedral. East End: Exterior.]
The east end wall is not now in its original condition, but enough
remains to show what it was originally. Fig. 442 shows its first
condition when it was divided into three stories, with three windows in
each, similar to those still remaining in the lower story (Fig. 443).
The windows of the top range had in the interior (Fig. 444) shoulders at
the springing of the arch similar to those of the windows still standing
in the nave and transept. Nothing remains to show how the apex was
designed. The windows of the two upper stories were almost entirely
abolished during the first half of the fifteenth century, when one large
window was inserted with simple tracery, of which enough remains to
enable the design to be reconstructed (Fig. 445). The arch of this
window is very slightly pointed, and is indeed semicircular in its
inner ring, the object being to get as much extra height as possible
without penetrating into the corbel course of the apex, the
[Illustration: FIG. 444.--St. Andrews Cathedral. East End: Interior.]
cornice outside being, however, slightly raised in the centre over the
top of the arch. The jambs and arch springers of the original windows,
which did not require to be removed, have been left to tell the tale of
the original design (see Figs. 443 and 444). We have in this east end an
example of the Norman style of designing a façade by piling story above
story, altered at a later date by the insertion of one large traceried
window, so as to bring the façade into harmony with the later style of
designing similar façades. From the small portions of the north and
south walls still standing, it is evident that the same design as in the
east wall of three stories was continued westwards in the choir. The
upper story consisted of an arcade, having a central light in each bay,
and an arch on each side opening into the passage which ran along the
centre of the wall (see Fig. 444). On the outside these side openings
were represented by blind arches. Against the north-east corner of the
east wall a high angular buttress has been built (see Plan), having
massive base mouldings of probably fifteenth century work. A similar
buttress is indicated in the plan of the cathedral shown in Lyon’s
_History of St. Andrews_ as having existed at the opposite corner. The
object of these buttresses is not apparent, as the east end wall shows
no sign of weakness, although it has been badly used when the buttresses
were built by having its corner stones pulled out. For the preservation
of the structure the corners, which have been removed, ought to be
replaced, seeing that the east wall now stands quite detached. The blank
wall of the presbytery beneath the lower windows of the east end (see
Fig. 444) appears to have been ornamented with an arcade, the blocks for
the bases of the shafts being still _in situ_. The arcade must have been
merely placed against the wall, and not bonded into it in the usual way,
or else there would have been some remains or indications of it.
[Illustration: FIG. 445.--St. Andrews Cathedral. Window inserted in East
End.]
In the foundations of the east wall there can be seen fragments of
ancient sculptured stones, and it has been proposed that these should be
removed; but fortunately, for the preservation of the structure, that
idea has been abandoned.
The presbytery had a groined vault springing from lofty angle shafts.
The ribs are crossed by a curious horizontal band, at the level where
the vaulting becomes of arched construction. This groining may possibly
have been renewed at the time the alterations were made on the east
wall. The angle buttresses may have been built at the same time,
although, strangely, at the points where they were least required.
[Illustration: FIG. 446.--St. Andrews Cathedral. Section of Piers.]
The central aisle of the choir and nave is of the same width as the
presbytery. Several of the piers of the choir still remain to a
considerable height above the base. Their section, and also those of the
nave piers, are shown in Fig. 446. The side aisles were vaulted, as is
indicated by the bases of the vaulting shafts.
The presbytery floor is two steps up from the choir; the steps still
exist between the two eastmost pillars. To the eastward of these there
are foundations as if of a wall across the church. Adjoining this there
is a large stone slab, measuring about 11 feet 4 inches by 7 feet 8
inches, with slight square depressions carefully wrought on its surface,
as shown on the Plan. This large slab may have been the covering of a
grave, and the depressions on the surface may have contained brasses.
There is a similar slab in the choir, measuring 10 feet by 5 feet 5½
inches (see Plan).
The west wall of the south transept (Fig. 447) has an intersecting
arcade in the lower story, with three round arched windows above, and
graceful arcading between, resting on corbels having square abaci.
Similar windows are continued along the south wall of the nave for four
bays. Westwards of this the nave windows are pointed, and have very
simple tracery (Fig. 448); otherwise there is very little difference in
the design of the south wall of the nave throughout its whole length.
The lower part seems to have been built as far west as the third bay
from the west end during the Transition period. The plan of the wall
shows the same flat buttresses with round angle shafts throughout its
whole length, which are indications of early work. Fig. 449 shows the
cap of the angle shafts of the buttresses, and one of the corbels of the
cornice. The springers of the groining of the south aisle still remain
(see Fig. 447). The groining appears to have been late, and of rather
coarse work. The ribs are struck from centres below the level of their
springing. All the bays have wall ribs, except the two east bays, which
rather indicates that the latter bays were not meant at first to be
vaulted. The vaulting
[Illustration: Plan of Angle of Transept and Nave.
FIG. 447.--St. Andrews Cathedral. West Side of Transept and South Side
of Nave.]
shafts have all the same section, and are without caps, the ribs dying
into the shafts, except in the case of the two eastmost and the westmost
shaft and the angle one at the west wall, which latter does not come to
the ground. These shafts have large caps, uniting the clustered section
into one. The centre aisle of the nave was not vaulted.
[Illustration: Corbel of Cloister Roof, enlarged.
FIG. 448.--St. Andrews Cathedral. West End of Nave and Turret of West
End.]
The south wall of the nave extends considerably westwards beyond the
present west end, and contains the remains of a vaulting shaft in the
position it would naturally have occupied in the spacing of the bays.
This seems to show that the cathedral was originally of greater length
than it now is by at least 34 feet, while it may have extended westwards
an unknown number of bays, each of which would measure 16 feet in width.
The south side of this wall (which is partly built against with modern
erections) shows traces of early arcading. The north wall of the nave
also projects westwards from the present west end for a distance of
about 7 feet. When the original west wall fell, it may have destroyed a
few of the western bays, and this possibly induced Bishop Wishart, when
he rebuilt the west end, to omit these bays, and shorten the cathedral
by so much.
[Illustration: FIG. 449. St. Andrews Cathedral. Cap of Angle Shafts of
Buttresses and Corbel of Cornice.]
There is a very puzzling feature in connection with this west front
(Fig. 450) which has never been satisfactorily explained. On each side
of the doorway there rises a vaulting shaft, a few feet higher than the
level of the capitals of the doorway. A similar shaft will be observed
at the angle of the west front and the south wall. Rising from these
shafts are incomplete ragglets, indicating the form of vaults against
the west façade, thus suggesting that there was a western porch. But
such a feature is quite incompatible with the design of the west end,
for had there been such a porch, it would have cut the arcade above the
doorway in two, which is a most unlikely idea. The vaulting shafts and
arches springing from them are a part of the original design and
construction. The arcade also seems at first sight to be so, hence the
difficulty of reconciling these features with the existence of a western
porch. The marks of the arch rise to the apex in the south aisle, and
the arch head might have been completed without interfering with the
arcade. Over the central door the marks of the arch are carried up only
as far as the string course beneath the first arcade. This fact,
together with the later character of the upper part of the building,
would seem to indicate that there has been a change in the design, and
that the original intention of having a wide porch extending along the
whole of the west end has been departed from after the first story was
built up to the level of the above string course, all above that point
being of later design and execution. The style of the architecture
confirms this view. It may be mentioned that the arcade over the west
door is very similar to that over the “Pends” (see Fig. 456), which is,
undoubtedly, a late structure. The lower story of the west end, which is
in the first pointed style, would thus appear to be all that remains of
the façade erected by Bishop Wishart; while the upper portion above the
first string course was rebuilt at a later date, as will be explained
further on.
[Illustration: FIG. 450.--St. Andrews Cathedral. West Front.]
[Illustration: Arch Mouldings.