The dioceses of Dunblane and Brechin were founded towards the close of
the reign of David I. from the remains of the old Pictish bishopric of
Abernethy, after numerous portions had been abstracted by St.
Andrews.[40]
The town of Dunblane stands on the left bank of the Allan Water about
four miles north of Stirling. The old town is small and consists of a
single narrow street leading from the bridge over the Allan up to the
platform on which the cathedral stands surrounded by its ancient
churchyard. Indications of the age of many of the houses may be observed
in the coats of arms inserted in their walls.
It is believed that St. Blane, in the seventh century, here founded a
Columban establishment, which is said to have been an offshoot from
Kingarth in Bute.[41] The bishopric was re-established by King David I.
in 1150. The ancient square tower of the cathedral which still survives
is a relic of the structure erected in the twelfth century. Nothing is
known of the cathedral from that time till 1233, when Clement was
appointed to the see. Finding everything connected with the bishopric in
a neglected condition, he repaired to Rome and laid the case before the
Pope, pointing out that the Columban monastery had fallen into lay
hands, that the church was roofless and without a pastor, and that
divine service was only occasionally performed. He succeeded in his
appeal, and, in 1238, the Bishops of Glasgow and Dunkeld were appointed
to settle matters between the Bishop of Dunblane and the Earl of
Monteith who had raised certain claims. Clement died in 1258, after
having re-established the bishopric, and, it is believed, partly, if not
entirely, rebuilt the cathedral.
To judge from the style of the architecture, it is probably the case
that the structure was at least begun by him, though the style indicates
that it was not completed before the end of the thirteenth century.
This cathedral is one of our noblest structures, and situated as it is
on the high east bank of the Allan, which here swells out into a broad
[Illustration: FIG. 508. Dunblane Cathedral. View from South-West.]
[Illustration: FIG. 509.--Dunblane Cathedral. Plan.]
expanse, the view of the edifice, as seen from the south-west (Fig.
508), with its lofty front and ancient tower rising above the wooded
bank of the stream, is particularly charming.
The structure (Fig. 509) consists of a nave of eight bays, with north
and south aisles, an aisleless choir of six bays, an northern aisle
unconnected with the choir, except by a doorway, and the twelfth century
tower attached to the south aisle of the nave.
The tower is 22 feet 6 inches square, with walls about 5 feet in
thickness. It is awkwardly placed in connection with the church, the
walls not being parallel to those of the nave, while the tower projects
into the south aisle from 6 feet to 7 feet 6 inches. A high window in
the east wall of the ground floor of the tower is, in consequence, built
up by the wall of the aisle. The ground floor has a pointed ribbed
barrel vault, and a wheel stair in the south-west angle leads to the
top. The doorway of the tower is in the north wall, and now enters from
the south aisle of the nave (Fig. 510); but, so far as can be
ascertained, the doorway appears to have been originally an external
one. The sill is about 3 feet above the existing level of the floor of
the nave. It has a nook shaft on each side, with the usual Norman cap
and base, and a semicircular arch head. There is no appearance of any
building having originally been joined to, or abutted against, the
tower, which would therefore seem to have stood detached. It would thus
be to a certain extent in accordance with the traditional design, being
detached like the Irish towers, though square on plan, not round like
them. It also resembled the Irish towers in having the doorway raised
some feet above the ground. As Dunblane was several times pillaged and
destroyed by the Norsemen, the tower may have been intended, as the
ancient round towers were, to serve as a place of defence against such
inroads, as well as for a belfry.
The tower (Fig. 511) is six stories in height. The lower four of these
stories form part of the original structure, and have small narrow
apertures, except the fourth story, which was probably the original top
story or belfry, and has a two-light window on each side. These consist
of an opening with plain jambs and round arched head, divided into two
lights by a central shaft having Norman cap and base and two small plain
round arched heads within the outer arch. The four lower stories of the
tower are all built with red freestone, the fifth story is of yellow
freestone, the sixth or top story of a grey freestone, and the tower is
finished with a parapet of red freestone. The two highest stories are
evidently of a late date. The top story contains a large pointed window
on each side with a central mullion. The form of these windows is
inelegant, and they are probably of sixteenth century date. The parapet,
with its angle bartisans resembling those of the castles of the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but with almost no projection, is
apparently still later than the belfry story. On the parapet are the
arms of Bishop Chisholm, about 1500. The slated
[Illustration: FIG. 510.--Dunblane Cathedral. South Side of Nave and
Lower Story of Tower.]
[Illustration: FIG. 511.--Dunblane Cathedral. Tower from South-East and
Part of Choir.]
wooden roof is comparatively modern, but is on the lines of the one
which preceded it.
Judging from the style of the architecture the next oldest part of the
fabric after the tower is the north aisle of the choir (generally called
the lady chapel). The work here (Fig. 512) is all of a rather early
first pointed style. The buttresses are plain with simple set offs, and
the windows consist of two or three small pointed lights enclosed within
one larger arch. The latter are low segmental pointed arches, and the
haunches are raised so as to allow the small side lights to be carried
as high as possible. This building is vaulted (Fig. 513) with pointed
groins of first pointed section, which spring from semi-octagonal shafts
with early caps, and the bosses at the intersection are carved with
first pointed foliage. Above the vault there is an upper story with
small two-light windows. It is approached by a wheel stair in the
thickness of the west wall, entered both from the lady chapel and the
nave aisle. Such upper stories over the aisles of early churches are not
uncommon, as at Durham, Ely, St. Albans, Dunfermline, &c., but they
generally form an upper gallery and admit light to the centre. Here the
upper windows admit no light to the choir, the wall of the latter being
solid. Possibly this upper chamber may have been used for a scriptorium
or similar purpose. Upper stories were frequently employed for writing
rooms, as at Arbuthnot and Inchcolm, the room over the chapter house of
the latter being the place where Bower wrote his history.
It is remarkable that this north aisle of the choir, or lady chapel,
should be entirely separated from the choir by a solid wall in which
there never was any opening into the aisle except the small doorway near
the east end, which is of first pointed date.[42] This doorway, with its
details, is shown in Fig. 514. Whether this aisle was the first part of
the structure erected by Bishop Clement in order to be used as a
temporary church while the remainder of the cathedral was building, or
whether the choir built by him was afterwards rebuilt, the north aisle
being left unchanged, it is now impossible to say. That the choir is of
later date than the aisle there can scarcely be any doubt; but it does
not appear to be of much later date. The same base mouldings are carried
round the whole building, and the design of the east end of the choir,
with its large central and two narrow side windows (see Fig. 512) and
plain pinnacles, shows some features of first pointed character; but
both the large window of the east end and those of the south side (see
Fig. 511) point to a time about the beginning of the decorated period.
The windows of the clerestory on the north side above the roof of the
north aisle, with their small buttresses, are, however, of a similar
early character to those of the north aisle. Whatever may have been the
object in building
[Illustration: FIG. 512.--Dunblane Cathedral. Choir from North-East.]
[Illustration: FIG. 513.--Dunblane Cathedral. Lady Chapel.]
a solid wall between the choir and the north aisle, it has evidently
been intended, from the size of the east windows and also of those on
the south side, to provide sufficient light by them to make up for the
want of light from the north. The kind of tracery which filled these
windows cannot now be ascertained, but it may have been of the same
character as that of the windows of the west end. The tracery, which
existed till recently in the choir, was clearly a late restoration. The
pinnacles on the south buttresses and the upper part of the choir wall
are also of very late date. These have apparently been restored by
Bishop Chisholm, whose crest they bear, about the year 1500. It will be
observed that the north aisle of the choir stops short by one bay of the
length of the choir, so as to allow the presbytery to be lighted, as is
usual, by windows on three sides. The choir is 81 feet in length by 28
feet in width within the walls.
[Illustration: FIG. 514.--Dunblane Cathedral.