of Abernethy, a small town situated at some distance from the south side
of the Tay, and about three miles west from Newburgh. There can be no
doubt that this peculiar form of round tower owes its existence to the
presence of the Irish clergy, who returned to Scotland in the ninth
century.[137] Abernethy was distinguished as an ecclesiastical site at a
very early date, a church having been founded here in the sixth century
by King Gastnaid[138] in honour of St. Bridget. Abernethy was then, and
for a long period thereafter, the chief seat of the Government of
Pictland. In the ninth century, Constantin, the son of Kenneth M‘Alpine,
removed the see of the Scottish Bishopric from Dunkeld to Abernethy,
where it remained till transferred by Kenneth III., 966-970, to St.
Andrews.
[Illustration: FIG. 143.--Abernethy Tower. Plans.]
The monastery at Abernethy was in the hands of a Culdee establishment in
the eleventh century, but about 1200 the church was granted by William
the Lion to his favourite Abbey of Arbroath, and the Abbey was
secularised. In 1272, the monastery was revived as a Priory of Canons
regular of St. Augustine.
The once important place of Abernethy has now dwindled into a small
quiet country town, of which the ancient Round Tower is the only
important feature.
The tower stands partly within the churchyard and partly without it, on
the east side of the adjoining roadway, and the level of the ground on
the side next the latter is two or three feet deeper than that of the
churchyard. The doorway (Fig. 143) is situated on the north side of the
tower and within the burial-ground. It stands (Fig. 144) about 2 feet 6
inches above the ground, and has had in recent times a few steps built
in front of it. The doorway has a plain fillet, 6 inches broad and
projecting 2 inches, wrought on the jambs and round the circular arched
head. It is 7 feet 8 inches from the sill to the crown of the arch. The
jambs incline inwards, the opening being 2 feet 8 inches at the base,
and 2 feet 4 inches at the spring of the arch. The round head is
hollowed out of a single stone, and the thickness of the wall behind it
is arched with several voussoirs. The jambs are each in two stones,
which extend through the thickness of the wall. The wall is 3 feet 6
inches thick at the doorway, and the internal diameter of the tower at
that level is 8 feet 2 inches.
The structure is over 72 feet in height, and is divided in the interior
into six stories in the height by projecting string courses, 10 inches
by 8 inches, bevelled on the lower side, which carried the joists. There
was no staircase, access from floor to floor being by means of ladders.
The second, third, and fourth stories are lighted by means of small
round-headed and angle-headed windows, with inclined jambs.
The top story has four large windows facing the cardinal points. These
windows are the most remarkable features of the edifice.
The openings have inclined jambs, being 1 foot 8 inches at base and 1
foot 5 inches at top, and the height from the sill to the springing is 4
feet 9 inches. Each window has two orders on the exterior--a plain inner
order and an outer order, containing a shaft wrought on the jamb angle.
The inner order has plain square-edged jambs and round arch. The outer
order has also a square-edged round arch, springing from the caps of the
shafts. This arch, however, is not concentric with the inner arch, but
is carried considerably above it, leaving a flat space or shield between
the arches. The caps and bases of the shafts are now much decayed, but
they have a distinctly Norman character.
Above the highest string course the wall rises about two feet, so as to
form a parapet. The diameter within this wall is 8 feet 8 inches, and
the wall is about 2 feet 6 inches thick. The top of the wall is covered
with broad stones, each the full width, which have an ogee moulding
wrought on the outer edge.
The masonry of the tower is constructed in regular courses of ashlar
work, carefully wrought to the circle. The lower twelve courses are of a
hard grey freestone, and the portion above consists of a yellowish
freestone of similar workmanship, which is softer, and has decayed
considerably both on the exterior and interior. This difference in the
materials of the lower and upper portions has led to the belief that the
upper part has been rebuilt at a later date than the lower part.
[Illustration: FIG. 114.--Abernethy Tower. View from North-East.]
The tower is slightly less in diameter at the top than at the bottom,
but it tapers so little that the difference is scarcely observable.
In this tower we find features which belong both to the Celtic and
Norman styles of building. The circular form of the tower and the
disposition of its parts, the door raised some feet above the ground,
the small windows in the lower stories, the four large windows in the
top story, and the inclining jambs of door and windows, all point to the
Irish origin of the design; while the distinctly Norman character of the
details of the four upper windows, and the regular coursing and dressing
of the masonry, show the influence of the Continental style of the
twelfth century.
RESTENNET PRIORY, FORFARSHIRE.
The remaining towers of the group above enumerated are all square on
plan, and certain of them are connected with churches, and form a part
of them. In these respects, therefore, they differ considerably from the
towers of Abernethy and Brechin. They were all probably built during the
twelfth century. Possibly Restennet is an exception. It is the only one
of the square towers which has very marked features of a pre-Norman
character. The outside dimensions of the Tower of Restennet (Fig. 145)
are 15 feet 11 inches from north to south by 15 feet 6 inches from east
to west, and the walls are 2 feet 8 inches in thickness.
There is, on the ground level of the tower, a narrow doorway in the
south side, and a wide archway into the church through the east wall.
There is also a wide archway in the west wall, opening into what has
been a nave, added at a later date; but this opening appears to have
been cut through at a late period.
The south doorway (Fig. 146) is 2 feet 4 inches wide by about 8 feet
high. The soffit of the arch is cut out of single stones. The style of
masonry used in the construction of the doorway is peculiar. The
thickness of the wall is made up of three courses, the two outer ones
being large slabs set on edge, and the interior course being built with
smaller stones from a different quarry. The latter are of red and the
former of grey sandstone. The outer and inner stones forming the lintel
are hollowed out with a semi-circular arch opening. Round the exterior
of the doorway there is a raised margin, about eight inches in breadth,
with small projection, similar to the margin of the door at Abernethy.
Except this ancient feature, there is no other attempt at decoration.
The arch in the east wall (Fig. 147) is 8 feet 4 inches wide, and is
stated by Mr. Galloway[139] to have been 15 feet 8 inches high from the
original floor level to the soffit. The space comprised within the
tower
[Illustration: FIG. 145.--Restennet Priory. Plan.]
was by this archway included in the original church, which opened into
it exactly like the archway of the tower at Dunning Church (_q.v._),
compared with which, however, this opening has a very archaic
appearance.
[Illustration: FIG. 146.--Restennet Priory. South Doorway of Tower.]
There are no floors in the tower, and no stair or means of access to the
upper story, and the tower stands open from the ground to the apex of
the spire.
Above the arches just described, the tower contains two stories (Fig.
148). In the first story there is a small opening on the east side,
about 1 foot 8 inches wide and 4 feet 8 inches high, contained within
the space of the choir roof; and on the south side there is another
opening, about half this size. A small round opening, a few inches wide,
in the west wall (Fig. 149) completes the lights on this story. The
highest story, which is separated from the one below by a string course,
contains an opening with a straight-sided arch on each face, and each of
these openings has an external back-set fillet or margin.
How the tower was originally finished it is now impossible to say; but
the string course above the second story is the present termination of
the original work. The tower has a decided taper of about two feet in
the height.
The building above the second story is probably a work of the fifteenth
century, but there appears to be no written account of the erection of
the spire. With the exception of the tower, no part of the original
Church of Restennet remains, but a fragment of a return wall at the base
of the south-east angle of the tower shows that it was connected with
some building.
The existing ruin (see Fig. 145) consists of a choir to the east of the
tower. The south wall of this choir probably occupies the original
position of the south wall of the ancient church. Assuming that the
tower was in the centre of the west wall of the choir, the original
church would be about 14 feet wide, and possibly entered through the
tower by the narrow doorway in the south side.
The present choir is a first-pointed structure. It is roofless, but
otherwise fairly entire, and measures about 67 feet long by 21 feet 6
inches wide internally. A part of the centre of the north wall appears
to have been taken down and rebuilt at a late period. In a plan of the
priory, made by Dr. Jamieson of Forfar, and preserved in the Hutton
Collection (Advocates’ Library), the church is shown as being ruinous in
1796. The restoration which has since then taken place probably
accounts for the absence of the buttresses and of the hood mouldings of
two of the rebuilt lancet windows on the north side (see Figs. 148 and
149). On the south side the buttresses have all been pulled down, but
otherwise the wall remains intact, with first-pointed corbels along the
top of the wall. In the east wall, the apex of which is gone (Fig. 150),
there were
[Illustration:[140]FIG. 147.--Restennet Priory. Archway in East Wall of
Tower.]
three lancet windows, which had banded nook shafts in the interior, and
a simple splay externally. At the east end, on the south side, there is
a piscina (Fig. 151), a sedilia recess, a locker, and a tomb of late
work. On the north side there has been a similar recessed tomb, now
built up. The font shown in Fig. 152 is lying inside the choir, but its
base is gone. It measures 2 feet 4 inches in external width by 1 foot 9
inches inside, and 18 inches high, with a square hole in the centre. It
appears to be of late date.
The east wall has angle pilaster buttresses, with scarcely any
projection to the east, but having a few inches projection to the north
and
[Illustration: FIG. 148.--Restennet Priory. View from North-East.]
south respectively. The south wall of the church appears, from a return
and tuskings at the east end, to have continued further eastwards. In
the south wall, adjoining the tower, there is a plain, round, arched
doorway. As will be seen from the plan, the present choir is not in the
line of the centre of the tower. Probably the existence of earlier
monastic buildings on the south side may have prevented extension in
that direction; and so, in order to get the width required for the new
choir, it was necessary to extend the building northwards. From the
presence of the sloping skew recess on the west face of the tower, it is
obvious that the nave, which now no longer exists, and is only indicated
by this roof mark, was built nearly in continuation of the walls of the
choir. In Dr. Jamieson’s time, when the foundations of the nave existed,
it was so, and is shown in his drawings running westwards to the west
wall of the cloister, a distance of about 59 feet. The plan shows that
the west enclosing wall is broken off just at the point where the west
wall of the nave joined it.
[Illustration: FIG. 149.--Restennet Priory. View from North-West.]
On the south side of the tower and choir there are raglets, indicating
where the monastic buildings have abutted against them. Of these
buildings all that exist are the boundary walls, shown on plan. These
contain a doorway to the south, and another to the west. They are quite
plain, with segmental arched heads. In front of the west door lies a
flat tombstone, probably
[Illustration: FIG. 150.--Restennet Priory. Interior of East End.]
the one referred to by Dr. Jamieson as being dated 1553. Dr. Jamieson
further mentions that the courtyard was paved, and that the present
trees and shrubs, which encumber and confuse the place, are recent. In
describing the situation of the priory, he says that it stands on ground
which “juts out into a lake, or loch, of the same name. This, although
now drained in part, has nearly surrounded it. There is a small neck on
the west, where it is said there was a deep ditch and a drawbridge.”
[Illustration: FIG. 151.--Restennet Priory. Piscina.]
The date of the foundation of the priory is not known, but it is
recorded that David I. granted to the Prior and Canons 20s. yearly from
the rents of the burgh of Monros, as well as the teinds of these
rents.[141] The monastery was dedicated to St. Peter, and was of the
Order of St. Augustine. Between 1159 and 1163 it was attached to
Jedburgh by Malcolm IV.
After the Reformation, it continued to be the parish church of Forfar,
where, says Dr. Jamieson, there was only a private chapel, “an aisle of
the old church, till it was pulled down a few weeks ago, as they are
about to build a new church.”
[Illustration: FIG. 152.--Restennet Priory. Font.]
Further particulars of the history of Restennet, and of its early Celtic
importance, with a very minute and illustrated description, will be
found in the _Archæologia Scotica_, Vol. V., Part 2. There can be no
doubt of the great antiquity of the tower; and, as pointed out by Mr.
Galloway in the above paper, its features associate it with Irish
architecture. It may, therefore, be classed along with the towers of
Abernethy and Brechin; but it is of a ruder, and possibly earlier, type
than they are.
ST. REGULUS’, OR ST. RULE’S, ST. ANDREWS, FIFESHIRE.
This remarkable edifice stands in the ancient churchyard at a distance
of fully 100 feet south-east from the Cathedral of St. Andrews (_q.v._)
St. Regulus’ was, doubtless, the Cathedral Church of St. Andrews before
the edifice, afterwards constructed as the Cathedral, and now ruinous,
existed.
The early occupation of the site of St. Andrews for religious purposes
is referred to in the Introduction.[142] Cellach was the first Bishop of
St. Andrews, about the beginning of the tenth century. He was succeeded
by ten Culdee Bishops, the last of whom was Fodath, who performed the
ceremony of the marriage of Malcolm Canmore and Queen Margaret. The
settlement of the Culdees became broken up and partly secularised, and
under Bishop Robert (1121-59) Canons regular were introduced in 1144,
who gradually absorbed the Culdees into their community.
Dr. Joseph Robertson[143] states it as his opinion that “no one
acquainted with the progress of architecture, who diligently peruses the
_Historia B. Reguli et Fundationis Ecclesiæ S. Andreæ_, will have much
difficulty in identifying the building [of St. Regulus] with the small
‘basilica’ reared by Bishop Robert, an English Canon regular of the
Order of St. Augustine, between the years 1127 and 1144.” Robert, Prior
of Scone, was elected Bishop in the reign of Alexander I., but was not
consecrated till the reign of David I., in 1138. The passage, referred
to by Dr. Robertson is as follows:--
“But before the newly-elected Bishop (Robert, Prior of Scone) was
consecrated, King Alexander, who was now in his last illness, left his
sole surviving brother, King David (who now is), heir both of the
kingdom and of his devotion to the Church and his care of the poor. The
undertakings of his late brother he endeavours to carry to completion.
He has founded many monasteries for monks, canons, and nuns, and on
these he has bestowed many benefactions; while to the servants and
handmaids of Christ themselves he has done many acts of kindness, on
which we cannot here enlarge. He obtained that the Bishop of St.
Andrews, Robert, already mentioned, was consecrated by Thurstan,
Archbishop of York. This being done, Robert returned to his see, and
[Illustration: FIG. 153.--St. Regulus Church. Plan.[144]]
proceeded to put in practice what he had in his view--viz., the
enlargement of his church, and its dedication to divine service. On this
work he expended the seventh part of the altar dues which fell to him,
reserving them for his own use. But inasmuch as the outlay was small,
the building made correspondingly small progress, until, by the Divine
favour and the influence of the King, offerings flowed in, and the work
went on apace. The basilica was thus founded, and in great part
constructed.”--_Chronicles of the Picts and Scots_, p. 191.
There can be little doubt that the building still surviving is the
basilica of Bishop Robert. Its architectural features correspond with
his date, and there is no other structure to which the above notice
would apply. The similarity of St. Regulus’ in many points to the early
churches of Northumbria has already been adverted to.[145]
The edifice (Fig. 153) consists of a chamber 26 feet long and 19 feet 10
inches wide internally, with walls about 34 feet high. The great height
of the building, as compared with its width and length, is one of the
points which connect it with the pre-Norman structures of Northumbria.
There appears to have been an eastern apse, of which only portions of
the foundations next the main structure now remain. A lofty square tower
(Fig. 154) at the west end of the oblong chamber is the most striking
feature of the building. It is about 110 feet high, and measures about
21 feet 4 inches square over the walls.
[Illustration: FIG. 154.--St. Regulus’. West Side of Tower.]
At the east end of the main building a lofty archway (Fig. 155) opens
towards what was probably the apse. The opening is 9 feet wide by
[Illustration: FIG. 155.--St. Regulus’. View from South-East.]
25 feet 6 inches high. Each jamb has three attached shafts (Fig. 156),
with somewhat rude caps and bases, and bold mouldings in the arch. The
existence of this archway clearly indicates that there was a building
towards the east of it, and we have no doubt that it was an apse; while
the main building was the chancel, and the nave stood (as will be shown)
to the west of the tower.
The tower is pierced with an archway in each of its east and west walls.
The lower part of the west wall of the tower projects about 2 feet 2
inches on each side beyond the side walls, with a breadth of about 2
feet 5 inches, and finishes upwards in a roughly-tapering form at the
level of the top of the western arch. (See Fig. 154.) These projecting
portions of wall have somewhat the appearance of side buttresses to the
tower, but they are more like the remains of the east wall of a nave,
which now no longer exists. They have not the character of
originally-built early buttresses, but have rather that of the remains
of projecting walls, dressed up at a later period. Besides, it is a
characteristic of the structure that it has no buttresses flanking the
other arches. There is observable on the west face of the tower the mark
of a roof. This mark, if produced on each side to about the level of the
top of the chancel walls, would indicate the roof of a nave about ten or
twelve feet wider than the tower. There seems to be no other way of
explaining the mark of the roof and the projecting portions of the side
walls except by supposing that there was at one time a nave to the west
of the tower. This would also give a reason for the existence of the
[Illustration: FIG. 156.--St. Regulus’. Details of East Arch.]
east and west arches in the tower, which otherwise are somewhat
unintelligible.
The arch opening from the chancel to the tower is 9 feet 10 inches wide
by 27 feet high, and is of a plainer description than the apse archway.
[Illustration: FIG. 157.--St. Regulus’. Arch Moulding of West Arch of
Tower.]
The jambs have a square recess or nook on each face of the wall with a
shaft in each recess; and the arch above is quite plain, with square
edges. The western arch, from the tower into the supposed nave, is shown
in Fig. 154. It is 10 feet 4 inches wide by 28 feet high. Both of the
archways in the tower are now built up. The moulding of the west arch,
as far as visible, is shown in Fig. 157. The capitals of all the shafts
are rather shapeless and clumsy, but the necking and arch mouldings are
of good design. The arches are all slightly of the horse-shoe form.
The three-arched openings above described are all of about the same
dimensions, and as the two eastern ones cannot be called doorways, so
neither can the western one be considered as merely the entrance doorway
to the church, but would rather appear to be the arched opening from the
nave into the tower and chancel. When we consider that this church was
once a cathedral, as well as the church of a monastery, and also,
perhaps, served the purpose of a parish church, it seems probable that
it must have been a larger building than the simple oblong chamber to
the east of the tower which now survives. Considerable discussion has
taken place with reference to the probable arrangement of the plan. Some
have supposed that the church consisted of the simple oblong chamber
which still exists, with an eastern apse and western tower; while others
maintain that the existing oblong was the choir, that there was a
western nave, and that the tower was central. Sir G. Gilbert Scott
points out that in the latter case St. Regulus’ would be parallel to
Jarrow Church, while in the former case the church may have had a lofty
western porch, as had those of Wearmouth and Barton-upon-Humber. Sir
Gilbert, however, thinks that the large size of the western arch, and
the mark of
[Illustration: FIG. 158.--St. Regulus. Belfry Window.]
the roof on the tower, suggest a nave.[146] The seals of the church,
dated 1204 and 1214, which are preserved at Durham, show a nave and
chancel.
The chancel is lighted by four windows, two on each side, placed at
about 14 feet above the ground. (See Fig. 155.) They are round headed,
the circles being cut out of a single stone on the outside, but arched
on the inside. The openings are 6 feet 6 inches high and 1 foot 10
inches wide, and have broad splays internally.
The building has a cornice at the wall-head, containing a series of
simple corbels. A string course runs round the tower below the top
story, and above it there is a belfry window on each face, about 3 feet
wide by 8 feet 9 inches high. Each window is divided into two openings
by a rounded centre shaft (Fig. 158), and there were round nook shafts
at each side, but these have now fallen away. There are a few small
openings on each face at different stages. The tower is crowned with a
cornice, having two rows of simple corbels similar to those of the
chancel cornice. On the east side there is an opening into the space
which was covered by the chancel roof. The floors of the tower have been
of timber, and there is one set-off in the inside of about 6 inches, at
a height of about 64 feet. There was no access stair. At the north-west
corner of the chancel, and at the wall-head level, there are two caps
which have a very distinct appearance of being of first pointed date.
NORMAN ARCHITECTURE.
A general description of the features which distinguish this style of
architecture has been given in the Introduction,[147] together with a
short summary of the Scottish structures in the Norman style.[148] The
more minute features will be referred to in the descriptions of the
various churches. It may, however, be pointed out that few structures
survive in Scotland which exhibit elevations of façades, such as the
east and west fronts of churches, or the north and south façades of
transepts, which show the true Norman character. In all Norman churches
of any importance in other countries the façades forming the end
elevations in the above positions are composed of several stories, piled
up one above the other. (See Fig. 17.) In the later styles, the design
of the façade is generally composed of one predominating feature, such
as a large traceried window, or a series of lofty lancets (like the Five
Sisters of York), rising above a single lower story, which generally
contains a doorway. But in Norman architecture the façades are usually
divided up into a series of stories, one over the other--an arrangement
which, to a certain extent, fails to give the impression of one large
structure, such as is conveyed in the façades of the later Gothic
styles.