A church dedicated to St. Michael existed here as early as the time of
David I. A new church is said to have been erected in 1242, and in 1384
Robert II. contributed to its repair. A great fire occurred in 1424,
from which both the palace and church suffered great damage, and the
church seems to have been entirely rebuilt after that date. The
reconstruction of the edifice no doubt progressed, under the James’s,
simultaneously with the palace. In 1530-40, Thomas French, the king’s
master mason, was engaged at Linlithgow,[161] and it is possible that
the church may have received some internal embellishment under his
direction.
This edifice is, in part, a good example of the Scottish decorated
period. The nave is the earliest part of the structure, and, from its
history and style, it would appear to have been erected before the
middle of the fifteenth century. The choir is of somewhat later date.
These two portions were separated by an arch, which was removed about
1814, when the choir was cut off by a wall from the nave, and converted
into a church with galleries. At that time, too, the present plaster
ceiling of nave and choir (in the form of groined vaulting) was
substituted for the open oaken roof which was formerly visible. The
original stone vaulting of the side aisles, however, still extends round
the whole building. The plaster groining of the apse was introduced at
the above period. Otherwise, the structure has been little altered in
its leading features.
St. Michael’s (Fig. 856) consists of a choir, 53 feet from east to west,
by 65 feet from north to south, including two aisles, and a three-sided
apse at the east end; a nave, 95 feet in length by 65 feet in width,
including two aisles; two chapels inserted in the place (on the north
and south)
[Illustration: FIG. 856.--St. Michael’s Parish Church. Plan.]
usually occupied by the transept; a square tower at the west end; and a
south porch giving access to the nave.
From the style of the architecture, we have no hesitation in deciding
that the nave is the oldest part of the structure. The simple section of
the piers (Fig. 857), and their moulded caps, with circular abaci and
characteristic bases (Fig. 858), together with the elegantly pointed
arch mouldings, with their wide and effective spans, are all strongly
allied to decorated work. The corresponding features in the choir (Fig.
859) are somewhat similar to those of the nave, but the details,
especially the caps and bases of the piers, with their long, straight
mouldings, are of a later character, and recall those of the east end of
St. Giles’ Cathedral erected after the middle of the fifteenth century.
[Illustration: FIG. 857.--St. Michael’s Parish Church. Piers.]
The vaulting of the side aisles, both in nave and choir, is of the
simplest description, but bold and light in its effect. The bosses of
the north aisle of the nave contain shields charged with armorial
bearings, and still partly coloured. Small shields (without charge) are
also picturesquely placed upon the nave piers (see Fig. 858).
A broad stone bench or seat is carried all round the nave, and the bases
of the triple wall shafts of the vaulting, which are of good design,
rest upon it. Those of the choir, which are of different design, descend
to the floor, there being no bench in the choir.
In the nave there are triforium openings in each bay, and clerestory
windows above them. The former have pointed arches, and each contains
two pointed and cusped lights, divided by a central mullion. The
clerestory windows have each a semicircular arch, and each contains a
two-light pointed and cusped opening (see Fig. 858). Both clerestory and
triforium openings have label mouldings in the interior. The light wall
shafts which carried the wooden roof rest on corbels at the clerestory
level. The choir (see Fig. 859) is distinguished from the nave by having
no triforium openings, but the clerestory windows are similar in both.
The windows throughout the church are of large size, and mostly filled
with good and varied geometric tracery (Fig. 860). That of the south
transept has six lights, and the tracery (which has been renewed) is of
good design. The restoration of the tracery of this window was carried
out about 1840 by William Roberts, mason, who executed the work bit by
bit, making the new tracery an exact copy of the old, which had been a
good deal damaged. The south transept contained the altar of St.
Katherine. It was in this transept that the strange apparition was seen
by James IV. which warned him against his fatal expedition into England
before the battle of Flodden.
[Illustration: FIG. 858.--St. Michael’s Parish Church. View from
South-West.]
[Illustration: FIG. 859.--St. Michael’s Parish Church. Choir.]
The apse (Fig. 861), which is three-sided, is somewhat awkwardly fitted
on to the choir, being formed like a large bow window, extending beyond
the choir, from which it opens by a large semicircular arch in the east
wall (see Fig. 859). This wall is continued upwards on the exterior, so
as to form a gable, finished with crow-steps. The windows of the apse
are large, and the tracery of two of the windows is perpendicular in
character.
The transepts (or north and south chapels) and the south porch are
constructed in a somewhat peculiar manner (see Figs. 862 and 863),
having crow-stepped gables both on their outer walls and also over the
inner or aisle wall which separates them from the church. The upper part
of these structures does not thus interfere with the aisle roof, but
stands apart from it, allowing the aisle roof and the clerestory to pass
clear behind them. The north chapel, with its round turret (see Fig.
862), forms a very picturesque feature of the edifice. Each of these
partly detached adjuncts contains an apartment over the vault (see Fig.
856). The chambers over the north transept and south porch are
approached by turret stairs, while access to that over the south
transept is obtained by passing along the gutter from the south porch
and entering by a door in the inner gable. The room over the south porch
seems to have been a place for preserving documents, there being three
wall presses, one having had double doors. The light from the small
oriel over the arch of the porch is not good. The room over the south
transept is provided with a large fireplace, and may have been used as a
kitchen; that over the north transept is empty and bare. The south
porch, with its picturesque upper oriel and stair turret (Fig. 863), is
a very interesting part of the edifice. The doorway has good mouldings
and bold enrichment in the arch, and the corbelled oriel is a peculiar
adjunct to the church. A similar one existed at St. Giles’, Edinburgh.
The parapet of the south aisle of the choir is provided with plain
gargoyles (Fig. 864), twisted so as to throw the water off the windows;
but that of the nave has no gargoyles, the water being removed by pipes.
The cornice of the nave is also different from the rest of the building,
and has the appearance of being a comparatively recent repair. This may
have been executed at the same time as the repair of the tower (to be
referred to). The junction of the different parts of the parapet and
clerestory is seen in Figs. 860 and 864.
The forms of the buttresses are worthy of notice (see Figs. 860 and
864). Those of the nave have a simpler character than those of the apse
and north transept. They are all well enriched with niches, having
carved canopies and corbels, but those of the choir and north transept
contain a more minute style of carving and ornament than those of the
nave. The numerous set-offs of the buttresses of the apse (see Fig.
861),
[Illustration: FIG. 860.--St. Michael’s Parish Church. View from South.]
[Illustration: FIG. 861.--St. Michael’s Parish Church. East End.]
[Illustration: FIG. 862.--St. Michael’s Parish Church. North Transept or
Chapel.]
and the small and paltry character of the finials of the north transept
(see Fig. 862), indicate a late date. The canopies of the niches are
[Illustration: FIG. 863.--St. Michael’s Parish Church. South Porch.]
[Illustration: FIG. 864.--St. Michael’s Parish Church. South Side of
Choir.]
ornamented in a somewhat elaborate style (Fig. 865), some of the
ornaments having a strong resemblance to the style of many of the
enrichments at Rosslyn.
The buttress of the south-west angle of the nave, crowned with the
sculptured figure of St. Michael (Fig. 866), forms a striking feature on
approaching the church. To the left, under the west window of the south
aisle of the nave, may be observed three corbels in the aisle wall,
which have apparently carried a pent roof, under which there is an
oblong aperture in the wall of the church. It is said that pensioners
here received their dole, but the use of the opening is not clear.
[Illustration: FIG. 865.--St. Michael’s Parish Church. Canopies of
Choir.]
The western tower (see Fig. 860) once formed an important feature of St.
Michael’s. It was originally terminated with a crown of open stonework,
similar to that of St. Giles’ in Edinburgh. But, about 1821, this crown
was found to be in a dangerous state, and had to be taken down. The
tower would appear to have been an addition to the original structure.
The Plan shows that a part of the original west wall has been cut out,
and the thicker wall of the tower inserted. This is seen both externally
and internally, and the awkward junction of the tower with the nave is
also apparent. The tower itself is of good design, but late--probably of
the same period as the apse. It contains a remarkable entrance doorway
(Fig. 867), quite Continental in style, which may possibly be the work
of Thomas French, the king’s master mason. Above this doorway there is a
large perpendicular window. The upper part of the tower is plain and
solid, and would contrast well with the airy crown on top.
In the interior the tower is designed so as to produce a good effect. It
opens into the nave with a wide and lofty arch (Fig. 868) carried up to
the clerestory level; and the groined vault of the tower, with the large
window below, as seen through the arch, produce a good effect. In
[Illustration: FIG. 866.--St. Michael’s Parish Church. South-West
Buttress of Nave.]
each side wall of the tower there is a richly canopied recess, evidently
intended to receive monuments or sculpture, but now empty.
[Illustration: FIG. 867.--St. Michael’s Parish Church. West Doorway.]
[Illustration: FIG. 868.--St. Michael’s Parish Church. Interior of
Tower.]
A portion of what appears to have been a carved altar-piece has been
preserved in the church (Fig. 869). It consists of two panels, which
have evidently formed part of a series, representing scenes in our
Lord’s Passion and death. The panel on the left shows the scene in the
garden, with the three apostles asleep; and the panel on the right
exhibits the betrayal.
[Illustration: FIG. 869.--St. Michael’s Parish Church. Carved
Altar-piece.]
The Church of St. Michael’s is one of the largest of the ancient parish
churches of Scotland. The wall which separated the nave and choir has
recently been removed, and the whole thrown into one church. In 1559 the
building was taken possession of by the Lords of the Congregation, in
their march from Perth to Edinburgh, when the altars and images were
destroyed, the figure of St. Michael (see Fig. 866) only escaping
demolition.
The steeple contains three old bells--one dated 1490, and the other two
recast during the eighteenth century.