The lofty tower of this venerable abbey stands out prominently on the
top of the wooded bank of the Forth, about eight miles below Alloa and
six miles from Dunfermline. It is situated in a detached portion of
Perthshire.
The small, but ancient, town of Culross, which owes its origin to the
abbey, clusters below it on the slope of the hill, and along its base at
the river side.
In the seventeenth century the town took a great development, owing to
the collieries and other industries established by Sir George Bruce, and
the harbour was crowded with shipping. But during the present century
this commercial activity has entirely disappeared, and the little town
has relapsed into a quiet, old-fashioned place, still, however, full of
interest and picturesqueness. Amongst its ancient buildings are the
“Study,” the Tolbooth, and the “Palace,” which have been described in
the _Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland_, Vol. II. p.
432, and Vol. V. pp. 25 and 119.
The town is also prolific in ecclesiastical structures, of which the
remains of no less than three still exist. The principal of these is the
abbey. The others consist of the ruins of the ancient parish church,
situated about a mile to the west, and the remnants of the Church of St.
Mungo, which lie at the base of the slope a short way to the east of the
town.
The abbey was founded, in 1217, by Malcolm, third Earl of Fife. Almost
nothing is known of its history, but it is believed to occupy the site
hallowed by the memory of St. Mungo and his reputed preceptor, St. Serf
or Servanus. St. Mungo is, by tradition, said to have been born on the
shore of the Forth at this place, whither his mother was miraculously
brought by a storm, and to have been nurtured and trained by St. Serf,
an ancient Celtic ecclesiastic, already settled at Culross. This story,
however, is discarded by Dr. Skene, who maintains that St. Mungo or
Kentigern died in 603, while Servanus did not found the Church of
Culross till the end of the seventh century.
This ancient foundation was apparently revived by Earl Malcolm, who
introduced a body of Cistercian monks from Kinloss, of which abbey,
Hugh, the first prior, was abbot.
From the evidence of the architecture it is apparent that the
establishment founded by Earl Malcolm was erected in the thirteenth
century. Considerable remains of that period, and some walls of what
might be regarded as of earlier date, are still traceable; but the
principal parts of the existing church, which has been much altered, are
of considerably later date.
The plan of the church is peculiar (Fig. 635). Its most conspicuous
feature is the tower, which rises from the ground in the centre of the
building, with four solid walls. To the west of this tower are a few
relics of what appears to have been a separate church, while to the east
of it is a complete church, consisting of the choir, north and south
transepts, and a portion which may be called the nave, running westwards
from the crossing to the tower.
A few fragments of the old monastic structures also survive. Adjoining
the south transept are parts of two early doorways, and running
southwards from the west end of the west church are the manse (which
comprises old walls) and a large groined hall, which may have formed the
hall of the lay brothers of the convent. A vaulted passage adjoins it,
leading into the manse garden, which evidently occupies the site of the
original cloisters. The church formed the north side of the quadrangle,
while along the south side stretched a series of buildings which,
doubtless, contained the refectory. Owing to the slope of the ground
these erections are supported on vaults, part of which still remains.
The site of the church is level throughout its whole length on the
north and east, and along the south side of the choir as far as the
tower within the walls shown on Plan. The cloister garth and the
buildings on the west side stand on ground about 10 feet lower, while
along the south side of the cloister the ground suddenly descends about
20 feet. It was thus necessary, beneath the vaulted buildings shown on
the south-west side, to bring up extensive vaulted cellars, which
extended along the south and east sides of the cloister as far as the
chapter house. All these under-buildings are clearly shown by Slezer,
who represents this abbey with some minuteness as it existed in his time
(1693).
[Illustration: FIG. 635.--Culross Abbey. Plan.]
Considerable remains of the church and abbey buildings are still
standing, either in a ruinous or greatly altered condition. Extensive
alterations were made on the fabric in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries to adapt certain portions of the old buildings to modern
purposes, and the eastern end of the edifice is now used as the parish
church. There have been, as already stated, an east and a west church,
separated from each other by a central tower rising solidly from the
ground. The tower and the east church are still entire, but of the west
church only the south wall and the start of the north wall at the tower
now remain, as shown on Plan. Both churches have been of about the same
dimensions--viz., 78 feet by about 21 feet 6 inches wide, and both are
without aisles.
The south wall of the west church has some indications of transition
work, the masonry being arranged in the cube courses peculiar to early
work. Towards the west end (in the gable of the manse) there is a round
arched doorway, now built up, but it contains very little indication of
style. This was, doubtless, the usual entrance to the nave from the west
end of the cloister. The south wall is about 7 or 8 feet high from the
level of the nave floor, and more than twice that height from the level
of the cloisters. The windows were above the top of the wall, as is seen
at the east end adjoining the tower, where there exist the springing and
jamb of a window, with continuous mouldings both on the north and south
sides. These are, undoubtedly, fragments of fifteenth or sixteenth
century work. Slezer, in his views, shows a series of six or seven
round-headed windows at above level along the south side of the west
church. It is sometimes conjectured that these may have been Norman, but
certainly the existing jambs of the eastmost windows above referred to
are not so. Slezer, we may remark, is not to be depended on for accuracy
of details. It is said that these windows were taken down for materials
to build dykes with by the late parish minister, Dr. Erskine.
The position of the west end of this church is a matter of conjecture,
but it is almost certain that the present modern entrance gateway is
built on its site. The projecting part of wall at =X= on Plan has a large
bead on the corner, and it is clearly the corner of the south-west
buttress of the nave, with the base mouldings returned round it.
The lower story of the tower is much older than the portion above it.
This is evident from the nature of the building, and also from the door
and window openings in it. Entering from the west church, a low doorway,
5 feet wide, leads into the tower; it is late first pointed in detail,
round arched, or very slightly pointed in some of its orders. At each
side of this doorway there are arched openings, which recall the
recesses on each side of the chancel arch at Tynninghame Church. That on
the west side is a low, plain pointed opening, about 3 feet wide, now
built up. Between the centre door and the southmost of these built up
openings there is a pointed stoup, the lower part of which is buried by
a grave mound. Above the doorway, and beneath the sloping marks of the
roof of the west church, a wide semicircular window opens into the
tower--a singular feature not easily understood. The doorways in the
interior of the tower are all of late work--similar to that of the
sixteenth century in Scotland. Fig. 636 shows the upper part of the
interior of the west door. The style of the work is clearly late. The
initials A. M. may stand for the name of Mallet, as there seem to be
three mallets on the shield.
[Illustration: FIG. 636.--Culross Abbey. Interior of Doorway of Tower.]
The tower (Fig. 637) measures 84 feet high to the top of the parapet; it
has been operated on at various times. The projecting round
staircase-turret is an addition of, perhaps, the fifteenth century; the
lower part of the tower, as is evident from the west doorway, is
probably of the thirteenth century. It is groin vaulted at the first
story, as shown on Plan. This vault, and all above, are of sixteenth
century work, with the exception of the upper part above the cornice,
which dates from this century. The old finishing of the tower is shown
by Slezer to have been carried out with a cape house and bartisan like
the pele towers, or as shown at the churches of Torphichen, Dysart, and
Dundee.
[Illustration: FIG. 637.--Culross Abbey. Tower from North-East.]
[Illustration: FIG. 638.--Culross Abbey. View from South-East.]
[Illustration: FIG. 639.--Culross Abbey. North Transept.]
The doorway from the tower to the east church and the passage leading to
the chapel, which stood on the east side of the transept, are late
Gothic. The east church, as already stated, is a complete cruciform
structure, having choir, transepts, and nave in itself. The north
transept (see Fig. 637) was built, in 1640, by George Bruce of Carnock,
it is surmised, on older foundations. The south transept is, generally
speaking, old; it had an east aisle, opening by two arches from the
transept and one arch from the choir. This aisle is now removed, and the
arches are built up, but their outlines are visible from the exterior
(Fig. 638). This aisle is shown by Slezer with a lean-to roof against
the transept. In the corresponding position on the north side there
appears to have been a similar aisle; part of its east wall still exists
(Fig. 639), with an early two-light window, and the remains of what
appears to have been a canopied tomb, although Mr. Beveridge[84]
regards it as being the doorway to the north aisle. Built against the
wall, in an upright position, is the recumbent figure probably belonging
to this tomb.
All the original windows of the east church, which were large and
important, have been built up during this century, and smaller windows
of a debased type inserted, with the exception of the east window (see
Fig. 638), which is original, and is of good design; but even this is
lost to the interior, being partitioned off in order to allow a gallery
stair to pass it.
A part of the west wall of a chapel, which formerly existed to the north
of the tower, is indicated by the jamb and springing of a window. A
sketch section of its mouldings is given in Fig. 640, as also a section
of the mouldings of the door to the turret, which entered from this
chapel. These mouldings are evidently not earlier than late fourteenth
century work. There are two seventeenth century burial vaults adjoining
the north transept. In the larger of these is the fine monument to Sir
Robert Bruce of Carnock, illustrated in _The Castellated and Domestic
Architecture of Scotland_, Vol. V. p. 207.
[Illustration: FIG. 640.--Culross Abbey.