The town of Haddington is situated on the left bank of the Tyne, near
the centre of the county to which it gives its name. It is of very
ancient date, having been a royal residence from the time of David I.
till the thirteenth century. The last remains of the royal palace were
only removed in 1833. The town was formerly well provided with
ecclesiastical edifices, having, besides the Parish Church, the
monasteries of the Franciscans and Dominicans, the Cistercian Nunnery
(about a mile lower down the river), and the chapels of St. Martin, St.
Ann, St. Katherine, St. John, and St. Ninian. Of these establishments,
the only one (except St. Martin’s, already described)[169] of which any
trace of the structure remains is the Parish Church, which, although now
to a great extent ruinous, still retains enough of its noble
architecture to justify its ancient name of the “Lamp of Lothian.”
Considerable difference of opinion has been expressed as to the identity
of the existing edifice. Dr. Barclay, who wrote in 1792,[170] says:--“I
am decidedly of opinion that the present Parish Church of Haddington is
the same that formerly belonged to the Franciscans, and which Major
says was called _Lucerna Laudoniæ_; as a field, now converted into a
garden, and which is still styled the Friars’ Croft, lies contiguous to
the churchyard, and is not above 30 yards distant from the Parish
Church.”
On the other hand, as has been pointed out by Mr. Robb in his _Guide to
Haddington_, the site of the property of the Franciscans is fully
described in the charter of 1560 disponing it to the burgh, which
charter is signed by one of the friars. From this it appears that the
position of the Church of the Franciscans, as defined by the boundaries
of their lands, lay a little way lower down the river. One of the
boundaries is called in the charter the high road leading towards the
Parish Church, thus indicating that the Parish Church was different from
the Church of the Franciscans. Besides, the other boundaries are pretty
distinctly defined, and may still be followed.
This matter has been further fully discussed in a paper by Mr. Henry F.
Kerr, in the _Transactions of the Edinburgh Architectural Association_,
Vol. I. p. 21, in which Mr. Kerr concurs with Mr. Robb’s views.
The Church of the Franciscans, as ascertained from an old charter of the
friars, was founded in 1258, and was a splendid structure. Not a trace
of it now remains.
Another croft, nearer the Parish Church, called the King’s Yard, of
which the boundaries are described, also belonged to the Franciscans. On
this land Haddington House[171] was erected in 1680, and the croft was
converted into a garden. In 1477 King James III. made over this field to
Sir Richard Cockburn of Clubington, who afterwards gave it as a gift to
the friars of the Franciscan monastery. At the Reformation the friars
disponed it to the town, and its boundaries are fully described in a
charter of 1580.[172] It is believed that this is the field, “still
called the Friars’ Croft,” which misled Dr. Barclay into the belief that
the Parish Church was that of the Franciscans.
The Abbey, or Nunnery, of Haddington (above referred to as being one
mile east of the town) was of ancient foundation, having been founded,
in 1178, by Ada, Countess of Northumberland, widow of Prince Henry, and
mother of Malcolm the Maiden and William the Lion. It was occupied by
Cistercian Nuns, and possessed the Nungate, or suburb of Haddington,
lying on the east side of the Tyne. Owing to its situation so near the
Borders, and also to its proximity to the Tyne, the town of Haddington
and its religious establishments were much exposed to injury, both by
the invading hosts from the South and by the flooded waters of the
river, and it also suffered severely on several occasions from fire. The
town was burnt in 1244.
In 1355 Edward III. invaded Scotland, when the town and the Church of
the Franciscans were destroyed, together with numerous other towns and
churches in the South of Scotland. So severe was this attack that it was
long recalled in that part of the country as the “burnt Candlemas,” the
invasion having taken place in the month of February.
In 1358 the town was overwhelmed with an extraordinary inundation, when
the Nungate, or suburb on the eastern bank of the river, was levelled
with the ground, and the sacristy of the church was flooded and its
contents destroyed.
The ancient Church of Haddington, which was dedicated to the Virgin, was
founded by David I., and by him granted, in 1134, to the priory of St.
Andrews. The existing structure is of considerably later date. There is
no record of its erection; but, from the style of the architecture, it
was probably rebuilt in the first half of the fifteenth century.
The church (Fig. 889) is cruciform, having choir and nave, both with
side aisles, and north and south transepts without aisles. The choir is
77 feet long and 54 feet 11 inches wide internally (including the
aisles), and consists of four bays; the transept is 105 feet 4½ inches
long, from north to south, by 23 feet 2½ inches wide; and the nave is 47
feet 6 inches long by 56 feet wide (including the side aisles), and is
divided into five bays. The structure is thus of considerable
dimensions, the total internal length being 196 feet 8 inches. Over the
crossing rises the central tower, 90 feet in height.
The nave is the only part of the edifice which is roofed and occupied,
being still used as the Parish Church. The choir and transepts are
ruinous, and the walls have had to be supported with iron rances and
ties, which greatly spoil the appearance of the interior of the choir.
Otherwise the walls are pretty complete.
There is no record of there having been any destruction of the church by
popular outbreak at the Reformation, to which fact we may attribute the
comparatively perfect state of the structure at the present time.
The design of the interior of the choir (Figs. 890 and 891) comprises in
each bay a main arcade, resting on simple clustered piers of rather
diminutive height, having bases and caps, the mouldings and foliage of
which clearly belong to the middle pointed or decorated period. There is
no triforium; but the arches of the main arcade being large and lofty,
comparatively little plain wall space is left between them and the
string course, but the wall space below the clerestory windows is plain
and heavy. The latter windows are pointed and filled with simple
tracery. The choir was entirely vaulted, both in centre and side aisles,
the central vault springing from vaulting shafts resting on the capitals
of the main piers, but only stumps of the ribs remain at the springing
of the vaults.
The windows of the side aisles, which are lofty (see Fig. 890), have
been provided with tracery, having rather elaborate cusping. Many
[Illustration: FIG. 889.--The Parish Church, Haddington. Plan.]
[Illustration: FIG. 890.--The Parish Church, Haddington. The Choir, from
the South Transept.]
parts of the building, such as the gargoyles, label terminals, caps, &c.
are ornamented with grotesque carvings of various kinds of animals,
[Illustration: FIG. 891.--The Parish Church, Haddington. South Side of
Choir and East Side of Tower.]
foliage, &c. (see Fig. 896). The tracery in the large pointed east
window is modern.
[Illustration: FIG. 892.--The Parish Church, Haddington. North Side of
Nave.]
On the north side of the choir a chapel has been built in the
seventeenth century to contain the monuments of the Lauderdale family--a
fine specimen of Renaissance work.[173]
[Illustration: FIG. 893.--The Parish Church, Haddington. View from
North-West.]
The nave appears to have been originally of the same design as the
choir; but about the beginning of this century it underwent considerable
repairs and improvements, which greatly altered the character of the
design, both externally and internally. As it was desired to introduce
galleries in the side aisles, it was found necessary to raise the height
of the main piers and arches. This was effected by taking off the caps,
carrying up the piers for 6 feet 4 inches, and putting the caps on
again,
[Illustration: FIG. 894.--The Parish Church, Haddington. South Transept
and Choir.]
the arches being also taken down and rebuilt at the new height, as shown
in Fig. 892. The outer walls of the aisles were also carried up about 3
feet, the buttresses being heightened at the same time, and finished
with new pinnacles of a totally different design from the old ones
[Illustration: FIG. 895.--The Parish Church, Haddington. West Doorway.]
(Fig. 893), some of which still remain on the buttresses of the choir
(Fig. 894). The latter are in character with the pinnacles of the late
pointed period in Scotland, while the new pinnacles of the nave are of a
quite different description. At the time of these alterations the
opportunity was taken to introduce a perforated and crenellated parapet,
evidently copied from some English example.
These alterations were only carried out in 1811, but the white stone
used being of a soft character, the work has now a weather-worn and
ancient appearance, which renders the distinction between the old and
new work somewhat difficult. The drawing of the church by Grose, and a
view in Dr. Barclay’s paper in the _Proceedings of the Society of
Antiquaries of Scotland_, show the condition of the nave before the
alterations of 1811 took place, proving that the buttresses, &c., then
erected are new.
The west front (see Fig. 893) has, fortunately, not been so much
interfered with. This elevation is specially characteristic of Scottish
design. It contains the main doorway of the building (Fig. 895), in
which the circular arch (so often employed, especially in the doorways
of Scottish churches) is used; but it is enriched with the mouldings and
ornaments of the late decorated style (see Fig. 896). The mouldings and
foliage of the caps are specially striking and characteristic, while the
large leaves introduced amongst the arch mouldings are somewhat late in
design. The large arch is divided into two smaller openings by a central
pillar, the cap of which is of good design. It contains a shield (see
Fig. 896), surrounded with foliage, on which are carved the crown of
thorns, with a heart in the centre, and two hands and feet and the
nails, all emblems of the Passion.
Above the west doorway there is a very large pointed window (see Fig.
893), filled with mullions and tracery. The wide opening is divided into
two sections by a large central mullion, branching into two arches at
top; and these subdivisions each contain smaller tracery. It has been
suggested that this west window has been heightened, the jambs being so
low up to the caps and the pointed arch above so high; but there is no
apparent alteration to justify this view. This form of window is not
infrequent in late Scottish architecture, as at Paisley transept, Seton
Chapel, &c.
The parapet above the window is evidently modern, and the gable has
doubtless been heightened.
This part of the church has recently undergone a fresh restoration, but
it consisted almost entirely of the removal of the galleries in the
aisles and new seating in the centre. The pillars and arches of the
interior have been allowed to remain at the high level to which they
were heightened during the previous restoration; and it is fairly
questionable whether they are not more effective as altered than when
they stood at the original lower level.
The aisles having been originally vaulted, the old vault stood at the
former low level. The ancient wall rib was, therefore, at that level,
but was chipped off during the restoration. The stones which composed
the wall rib can still be traced in the walls in both aisles (see Fig.
892). The string course over the main arches was originally at the same
height as in the choir, but had to be chipped off. Traces of it can
still be seen. The heightening of the piers had also the effect of
cutting off the lower part of the vaulting shafts, thus depriving them
of the base which they have in the choir. The old vaulting was
necessarily removed when the aisles were heightened, and the church is
now vaulted in plaster.
[Illustration: FIG. 896.--The Parish Church, Haddington.
1, 2, and 3. Details of West Doorway. 4. Cap of Shaft, Nave Clerestory.
5. Jamb of West Window.]
The tracery of the windows of the nave has been renewed, and is entirely
without cusping.