Of this once important abbey only a few fragments now survive. The
monastery occupied extensive grounds on the banks of the river Garnock,
situated a few miles from the sea in the northern division of Ayrshire
known as Cuninghame. The ruins of the south transept of the church may
still be seen from the Kilwinning Railway Station towering above the
houses of the town.
The site seems to have been occupied in the eighth century by an Irish
monk called St. Winnan, who is believed to be the same as St. Finnan of
Moville. On the spot sanctified by his cell, a monastery was founded in
the twelfth century by Richard or Hugh Moville, said by Pont[35] to have
been a knight who fled from England in consequence of his connection
with the murder of Becket. He was welcomed by the King of Scotland, who
created him Great Constable of the Kingdom, and presented him with the
lordships of Cuninghame, Largs, and Lauderdale. But the dates are
difficult to reconcile. It seems, however, that towards the end of the
twelfth century a colony of Tyronensian Benedictines was imported into
Kilwinning from Kelso Abbey, and, as usually happened at that period,
was speedily endowed with lands and became wealthy. To judge from the
style of the surviving architecture, the church must have been erected
early in the thirteenth century. The south entrance doorway from the
cloisters to the nave (Fig. 500), although pointed, contains some
lingering Norman enrichments, while the other principal remains indicate
the work of the thirteenth century. The history of the monastery is
somewhat obscure. The chartulary has been lost, but the names of a
number of the abbots are preserved.[36]
[Illustration: FIG. 500.--Kilwinning Abbey. Doorway from Cloisters to
Nave.]
In the _Collections of the Archæological Association of Ayr and Wigton_
(1878) are printed a number of documents showing agreements between the
monks of Kilwinning and others regarding churches and benefices. Amongst
other papers there are notices of a charter by Robert I., granting to
the monks fishings in Leven and Clyde; a petition by David II., showing
that in consequence of wars and inroads the abbot and convent were
reduced to a state of want and poverty, and granting them aid; several
letters by Pope John XXII., early in the fourteenth century, confirming
grants of different churches and patronages; confirmations by Robert II.
and Robert III. of prior benefactions and new gifts; grants by James
III. and confirmation by James IV. of certain royal grants formerly made
to the abbey. An instrument narrates how, in 1512, the precincts of the
abbey were invaded by the Earls of Glencairn and Angus on behalf of a
rival abbot, thus showing that the monastery began to suffer from the
turbulence of that period. Towards the middle of the sixteenth century
the abbacy passed into the hands of commendators who, “for the utility
and advantage of the said monastery,” as it was expressed, but really in
order to secure as much as possible of the spoil, granted charters of
the monastic lands to their lay friends and relations. Thus, in 1552,
there is a confirmation by Queen Mary of a charter granted by Gavin,
commendator of the abbey, in favour of Hugh, Earl of Eglinton, whereby
“on the narrative of the usefulness and necessity to the said monastery
of a prudent and legal justiciar, chamberlain, and bailie for the
administration of justice to the tenants and inhabitants of the lands of
the said monastery, and for their lawful defence against any that
attempted to trouble them,” and also remembering the good services of
the Earl and his predecessors “in the safeguard and defence of the
rights and liberties of the said monastery, and especially in opposing
by force and resisting malignant and heretical men in these times
attempting every year to invade their monastery lands and possessions
and to rob their revenues,” the feu right of the office of justiciary,
chamberlainry, and bailiacy of certain of the lands of the monastery is
granted to the said Earl, together with a salary of £40 Scots. Further
charters are also granted to different parties in consideration of sums
paid by them, said to be for the repair and restoration of the monastic
buildings, which were ruinous and decayed.
In 1565 the abbacy was set apart, along with Paisley, Kelso, Jedburgh,
and Newbattle, for the royal charges. By a charter under the Great Seal
in 1603-4, the whole lands and possessions of the monastery were raised
into a free temporal lordship in favour of Hugh, fifth Earl of
Eglintoun.
The office of commendator appears to have survived, and in 1606, after
the restoration of Episcopacy, retained the privileges attached to the
order, and we find the bishops (who were the commendators) taking their
seats in Parliament as formerly. This continued till 1638, when
presbytery prevailed.[37]
The buildings of the abbey appear to have been destroyed shortly after
the Reformation. According to Knox the Earl of Arran, together with the
Earls of Glencairn and Argyle and the Protestants of the west, cast down
Fail, Kilwinning, and part of Crosraguel Abbeys, and, as stated by Pont,
the work of destruction was completed in 1591. Part of Kilwinning Abbey,
however, was repaired and fitted up as a Presbyterian place of worship.
This was taken down in 1775, and the present very plain parish church
was erected on the site of the choir. Shortly after this time (1789) the
building was visited by Captain Grose, who mentions that the tower or
steeple was then being repaired by the Earl of Eglinton.
The Plan (Fig. 501) shows what parts of the monastic edifices can now be
seen above ground. These consist of the south wall and gable of the
south transept, and one pier with respond and arch between the south
transept and its east aisle; the handsome door (see Fig. 500) which led
from the nave into the cloisters; the entrance to the chapter house from
the cloisters; a long ancient wall which formed the wall of the south
aisle of the nave; and some portions of the west end of the nave and the
south-western tower.
In the architectural notes which accompany an account of the abbey in
the publication of the _Archæological Association of Ayr and
Wigton_,[38] Mr. Galloway gives an account of the result of certain
diggings and explorations carried out by him.
From these it was ascertained that traces of the outline of the rest of
the church could be distinguished, as shown on the Plan. It was thus
found that “in its original state Kilwinning was a cross church, 225
feet in extreme length internally, 64 to 65 feet in breadth at the nave,
and 98 feet from north to south of the transepts. The nave had north and
south aisles throughout its entire length, the transepts had eastern
aisles only, and there was a small chancel about 30 feet in breadth,
without aisles.” The church was terminated at the west end with two
square towers, which projected slightly beyond the walls of the nave.
The mode of construction of these towers formed a rather exceptional
feature in Scottish church architecture. The towers were not carried
down with solid walls to the foundation according to a usual plan (as at
Elgin, Aberdeen, &c.), but rested on two sides on arches which opened
into the nave and aisles, and thus formed a continuation of the aisles
of the nave. Of these arches only that which opened into the south aisle
remains, together with the pier and respond which supported it. The arch
(Fig. 502) is acutely pointed and the springing is high, thus giving it
a kind of horse shoe shape. The foundations of some other parts of the
south
[Illustration: FIG. 501.--Kilwinning Abbey. Plan.]
[Illustration: FIG. 502.--Kilwinning Abbey. West End: Exterior.]
tower were, by excavation, ascertained to exist. The mouldings and caps
of the existing piers and arch all belong to the first pointed period,
but from having been long exposed to the weather, they are considerably
decayed. The mouldings on the west angle of the pier are carried up to a
great height without any caps (see Fig. 502). The caps would, doubtless,
be placed at a higher point than the shafts now reach to. This
indicates that the arches of the towers on the side next the central
aisle of the nave were very high, probably reaching to the level of the
clerestory arch, and thus effectually including the space of the towers
in the nave. This arrangement of the tower arches next the nave is quite
unique, and would give the appearance of a western transept at the
entrance to the church.
[Illustration: FIG. 503.--Kilwinning Abbey. West End: Interior.]
The north-west tower has entirely disappeared, but its position has been
ascertained to have corresponded with that of the south tower. Above the
existing arch from the tower into the south aisle, and on the east side
of it, a small portion of an arch of the triforium may still be observed
(Fig. 503). A small shaft with cap and a portion of the arch yet remain.
In Grose’s view some fragments of the clerestory are also shown, but
they no longer exist. To the north of the south tower pier a strong
wall, 6 feet in thickness, has been erected across what was originally
part of the nave. This, Mr. Galloway thinks, was probably built as a
reparation of the fourteenth century, the structure having probably
suffered injury during the wars of independence. Whether the wall was
erected at that time or not, there can be little doubt that it was
constructed after the demolition of the original west front and tower,
as a substitute for the former. The wall is built across the church
between the east faces of the two towers, thus leaving the high arches
of the towers, if they then existed, outside the edifice. It seems
probable, however, that the south tower had by that time been partially
demolished, and its ruins have remained ever afterwards exposed to the
weather. Hence the extremely weather worn appearance the stones now
present. The north tower, we know, remained complete till this century.
It is shown by Grose, and an account exists of its being struck by
lightning in 1805, and of its fall five years thereafter. A new tower
has, in recent times, been erected on the site of the old north tower.
This renewed west wall has a plain pointed doorway and a lofty double
window (see Figs. 502 and 503), with a simple mullion and transome of
rather indefinite design. The doorway is extremely plain and small,
being only about 3 feet in width, and having a double splay on the jambs
and arch.
The nave seems to have consisted of seven bays in addition to the
towers, and was of unusual width. A considerable portion of the south
wall of the south aisle survives, and still retains the corbels which
carried the vault of the south aisle. This wall, no doubt, formed the
north side of the cloister walk, and contained the fine doorway from the
cloister to the nave, shown in Fig. 500. Some traces of late Norman work
are, as already noticed, observable here. The arch is pointed, and
contains four orders of mouldings. The label is enriched with the
dog-tooth, while the other ornaments, as well as the details of the caps
and bases, are of a somewhat Norman character. The design of this
doorway is thus in the transition style, while the remainder of the
building is all of early pointed work. The undercut cross bars, which
formed a chevron enrichment rising above a roll, have all been knocked
off, only the stumps being left. One of the caps contains traces of two
figures, and the ornamentation of the bases is peculiar (see enlarged
sketches in Fig. 500). Two plain round headed doorways can be traced in
the south wall of the nave, near its west end. They doubtless led from
the nave into the cloister.
Modern buildings now occupy the site of the cloisters, and the old
cloister wall is incorporated with them. One of these houses bears the
date of 15--, and comprises some of the plain vaulted structures which
appear to have formerly been part of the abbey buildings.
The south wall of the south transept, with its gable (Fig. 504), is,
fortunately, fairly well preserved, and forms a lofty and prominent
object in the landscape, rising to a height of about 90 feet. Its triple
lancets, with their plain chamfers on the outside, and bold mouldings in
the interior (Fig. 505), and circular light above, are characteristic of
thirteenth century work. The mouldings and dog-tooth enrichments of the
arch of the eastern aisle (see Fig. 505) are indications of the same
period. Similar mouldings and ornaments have been carried up into the
triforium, and remains of a circular cusped opening are visible in the
east wall above. One arch of the arcade of the east aisle, with one pier
and respond, still survive. All the work connected with them is of fine
first pointed design. A doorway in the south-west angle of the transept
led to the stair to the upper parts of the structure, and, doubtless,
also to the dormitory over the chapter house, &c.
From Mr. Galloway’s explorations it was discovered that the foundations
of the north wall of the north transept still exist, thus enabling the
dimensions of the church to be determined. Both transepts had, as was
very usual, only an eastern aisle.
To the south of the south transept some portions of the slype or passage
from the cloisters to the eastern side of the monastery, and parts of
the chapter house, yet remain. The slype has a plain semicircular arched
doorway (see Fig. 507) next the cloister, and has had a stone bench or
seat running along each side. The passage has been arched with a cradle
vault in ashlar, of which a small portion still survives. The chapter
house is in ruins, but the west wall (Fig. 506), which contains the
semicircular entrance from the cloister and two semicircular windows,
one on each side of the entrance, is still preserved. The windows were
divided into two openings by a mullion and two plain arches. The doorway
and double windows have numerous mouldings, and the doorway is enriched
also on the inside (Fig. 507.) The mouldings are bold, and the same
mouldings are repeated in the jambs and arches. The caps are simple (see
section in Fig. 506), but they are not adjusted to the mouldings of the
jambs, having a plain soffit, against which the shafts and mouldings of
the jambs butt. These are all indications of somewhat late design. As
was usually the case, the doorway and side windows of the chapter house
were left open; that is, without a door to close the doorway or glass in
the windows, so that all that passed in the chapter house might be seen
and heard from the cloister. The chapter house has been of quadrangular
form, 19 feet in width by 38 feet 4 inches in length. Only the entrance
front remains.
[Illustration: FIG. 504.--Kilwinning Abbey. South End of South Transept:
Exterior.]
[Illustration: FIG. 505.--Kilwinning Abbey. South End of South Transept:
Interior.]
[Illustration: FIG. 506.--Kilwinning Abbey. Entrance to Chapter House.]
[Illustration: FIG. 507.--Kilwinning Abbey. Chapter House: Interior.]
Of the choir the outline only could be traced during the excavations.
The eastern angles terminated with massive buttresses. The extreme
external width over the bases was only 42 feet 6 inches, thus leaving a
choir not more than 30 feet in width internally. From the massive
foundations discovered at the intersection of the nave and transepts, it
is surmised that there may probably have been a central tower as well as
the two western towers.