sketches of some of the capitals of the piers. Four of these capitals
are preserved in a garden rockery in Rutherglen, and the annexed sketch
(Fig. 338) shows them as they are seen lying there half covered up and
concealed. The upper one, which shows the bed of the capital, is a
respond from one of the end walls, and the diameter of the column, as
indicated by the inner circle, is 18 inches, the breadth across the
abacus being 2 feet 5 inches. The enrichments of these capitals
correspond with those indicated by Ure in his view, and he informs us
that the pillars, of which there were five on each side, “are smooth and
round, except the middle ones, which are octagonal.” He further says
that the arcade “arches are pointed, but the point is hardly
discernible,” and with this the view in his book agrees. Above the
arcade he shows a small square window, probably measuring about 2 feet
each way, and widely splayed inside. Immediately above this was the
roof. The walls were “about 20 feet high, including the pillars on which
they are supported.” It is satisfactory to find Ure’s description of the
church supported by the
[Illustration: FIG. 337.--St. Mary’s, Rutherglen. Tower, &c.]
remaining fragments. The lower member, shown in Fig. 338, is a carved
stone, probably part of the chancel arch. It is enriched with the
alternate billet ornaments so frequent in such arches during the Norman
period.
The church was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and was granted to the
Abbey of Paisley by William the Lion before the year 1189, and it
continued in their possession down to the period of the Reformation.
There were several altars, with endowed chaplains.
[Illustration: FIG. 338.--St. Mary’s, Rutherglen. Norman Caps.]
The church stands near the west end of the cemetery, on the north side
of the main street. The entrance from the street is through a
picturesque lych-gate of Renaissance design, dated 1663. (See Fig. 337.)
It is surmounted by a sundial, dated 1679.
The cemetery is mentioned in the charters of Paisley (No. 85) in the
year 1262, when the widow of John of Perthie grants to Paisley a piece
of land lying between the church of the Virgin Mary and the river
Clyde.
LAMINGTON CHURCH, LANARKSHIRE.
The Norman doorway of this ancient church is still preserved. The church
has been altered and the doorway built up; but, doubtless, some of the
old walls still exist.
The church and village were founded by one Lambin, in the twelfth
century. The doorway (Fig. 339) is in the north wall of the church. It
[Illustration: FIG. 339.--Lamington Church. North Doorway.]
is an elaborate example to find in this remote and quiet pastoral
district. The arch mouldings and ornaments are well preserved, but,
unfortunately, the shafts are wanting. The caps are quite plain. There
are three orders of mouldings, all enriched with characteristic Norman
ornaments. It will be observed that in that of the outer order the
spaces between the rings gradually diminish from the caps to the crown
of the arch.
ST. BOSWELLS CHURCH, ROXBURGHSHIRE.
The Church of St. Boswells stands near the right bank of the Tweed, at a
point about half-way between the village of Lessudden and Maxton Railway
Station. The village of St. Boswells is stated to have formerly stood
near the church, but it has gradually and entirely disappeared, and the
nearest village to the church is now Lessudden, which is fully a mile
off. The situation is very fine, and the views of the Tweed, with its
wooded banks, in the vicinity are very beautiful.
[Illustration: FIG. 340.--St. Boswells Church. Fragments.]
The place is of great antiquity, and is supposed to have derived its
name from Eadwine of Northumbria. The church, which has been entirely
rebuilt, contains a few small relics of the Norman edifice which
undoubtedly once stood on the site. These consist of some carved corbels
(Fig. 340) and other fragments, which are evidently of Norman date, and
which have been preserved by being built into the restored church.
The Church of Lessudden was bestowed on Dryburgh Abbey in the middle of
the twelfth century.
SMAILHOLM CHURCH, ROXBURGHSHIRE.
As in Berwickshire, so in Roxburghshire, a large number of Norman
churches were erected during the Norman period. We have not attempted to
compile a list of these, as in most cases almost no trace of them now
remains, or so little that it can only be detected by an antiquarian.
There is, for example, the Church of Hassendean, of which Cardonell
gives a view of the chancel arch, granted by David I. to the Bishop of
Glasgow. This, judging from Cardonell’s view, must have been a rich and
important structure, with an eastern end similar to what we
[Illustration: FIG. 341.--Smailholm Church. Plan, and View from
South-East.]
find existing at Leuchars and Dalmeny. The Church of Upper Crailing was
granted in 1147 to the Abbey of Jedburgh; and at the same time Ganfrid
de Percy grants to the same abbey the lands adjacent to the Church of
Oxenham; and Ranulph de Sulis at the same time gives to the abbey the
Church of Castletown, and a little later in the century the Church of
Hownam and Eckford are similarly bestowed. The Church of Smailholm (Fig.
341) is distinctly a Norman structure throughout its entire length.
David I. granted the manor of Smailholm to David Olifard, and in the
ancient _Taxatio_ (beginning of the thirteenth century) the Church of
Smailholm was rated at 45 marks. Walter Olifard, who died in 1242, gave
the Church of Smailholm to Coldingham Priory.
Merely the shell of this building is Norman. It was greatly altered in
the seventeenth century, when probably the chancel arch was cut out; and
in later times it has suffered severely, so that all its original
architectural details have been destroyed.
The church consists of a nave, about 46 feet 6 inches long by 17 feet 3
inches wide; a chancel, 25 feet 9 inches long by 14 feet wide--being a
total length of about 72 feet 3 inches. The present doorway to the nave
is, doubtless, in the position of the original one, and has been
enlarged. The chancel doorway is of the seventeenth century, and the
windows adjoining are probably enlargements of the originals made at the
same time. There were no windows in the north wall, and one in the west
wall is quite modern.
There is a sundial on the south-west corner, bearing the date 1622,
which date is probably the date of the alterations referred to and of
the erection of the belfry.
LINTON CHURCH, ROXBURGHSHIRE.
This church stands about six miles south from Kelso, and one mile and
a-half from Morebattle. It occupies part of a sandy mound on which, at
one time, there also stood the Castle of Linton. There was a church
[Illustration: FIG. 342.--Linton Church. Tympanum in Porch.]
here at an early date, records of Linton Church being found as far back
as 1127. It was then presented to the Monks of Kelso by Sir Richard
Cumin for the salvation of the soul of Prince Henry, eldest son of David
I. The lands of Linton soon after passed into the hands of the
Somervilles, as the reward granted to William de Somerville for having
destroyed a worm or dragon which had long been the terror of the
neighbourhood. This exploit is traditionally commemorated in a sculpture
in
[Illustration: FIG. 343.--Linton Church. View from South-East.]
the tympanum of the doorway of the ancient church (Fig. 342), in which
the knight is represented on horseback thrusting his spear into the
mouth of the monster. It seems more likely, however, that the sculpture
has rather an ecclesiastical connection, and may possibly represent St.
George
[Illustration: FIG. 344.--Linton Church. Plan.]
and the Dragon, being an allegorical representation of religion, or
faith overcoming evil. Possibly, the existence of the sculpture may have
given rise to the traditional account of it. In 1858, this sculpture was
removed from the old doorway and inserted over the entrance to a new
porch, then erected. The porch is seen in the sketch of the church.
(Fig. 343.) This sculptured tympanum is remarkable as one of the few
examples of sculpture in a similar position in Scotland.
There is also a Norman font connected with the church, which was long
used in a blacksmith’s shop.
The walls of the church are old, but it has been almost entirely
restored and renewed. (Fig. 344.)
DUNS CHURCH, BERWICKSHIRE.
Not a stone of this church now remains. The chancel existed till the
year 1874 as a burial vault, when the minister of the parish, “under the
pretext of improving the churchyard,”[187] had it removed. The greater
[Illustration: FIG. 345.--Duns Church. Plan.]
part of the church was taken down in 1790, when a new church was built
on its site. We are enabled by the kindness of Mr. Ferguson, Duns, to
give a copy of an old plan which appears in his work on the Churches of
Berwickshire, and to the same source we are indebted for the following
historical notes regarding it.
The Rectory of Duns is mentioned in Bayamund’s Roll (1275), and in the
ancient _Taxatio_ (end of the twelfth century) the parish is rated at
110 merks; so that it must have been a building of considerable
antiquity and importance.
In 1296, the Rector, Henry de Lematon, took the oath of allegiance to
Edward I.
From a photograph in Mr. Ferguson’s possession, of what remains of the
walls of the chancel the masonry looks very like Norman work. If one
might judge from the plan (Fig. 345), it evidently consisted of a long
nave and a chancel, with a north and south aisle or wing not opposite
each other, and probably built at later periods, such as are common in
connection with Scottish churches. The nave was about 72 feet long by
about 19 feet wide. The chancel was almost a square of about 17 feet,
thus corresponding with the Norman chancels of Ledgerwood and
Duddingston.
The two narrow and widely splayed windows seen in the east gable
indicate early work, as do also the north and south doors near the west
end of the nave; the other numerous openings, especially of doorways,
were probably alterations.
ST. LAWRENCE CHURCH, LUNDIE, FORFARSHIRE.
In the course of some recent operations on this church under the
superintendence of Mr. T. S. Robertson, architect, Dundee, it was
discovered that it had been a Norman structure. Of the original building
not much now remains, except the ashlar walls and a narrow window with a
wide internal splay and an outside check for a shutter. This window is
situated near the east end of the north wall.
The apse appears to have been taken down, in 1786, during some
alterations, and the chancel arch, indicated in the sketch (Fig. 346),
was built up. A tomb house was erected on the site of the apse, where it
[Illustration: FIG. 346.--Lundie Church in 1786.]
still remains. The building was of small dimensions, being about 40 feet
long by 18 feet 6 inches wide.
The fragment, of which a sketch (Fig. 347) is annexed, was found built
in a wall near the church. It appears to have been the top of a
sacrament house of late date.
The church, which belonged to the Priory of St. Andrews, was dedicated
to St. Lawrence, Martyr. In the early taxations of the Priory it is
described as “the Church and Chapel of Lundie.”
[Illustration: FIG. 347.--Sacrament House, Lundie.]
KIRKMAIDEN CHURCH, WIGTONSHIRE.
The parish of Kirkmaiden has long been incorporated with that of
Glasserton. Formerly Kirkmaiden formed the port of Whithorn, and its
roofless church still stands close to the burial-ground near the
sea-shore.
It consists (Fig. 348) of a nave, 37 feet 6 inches long by 18 feet wide
internally, and the walls are 4 feet in thickness. They are little
reduced from their original height, and the west gable is also little
diminished.
[Illustration: FIG. 348.--Kirkmaiden Church. Plan.]
There are only three openings in the walls--viz., a doorway and two
windows, all in the south wall. These were, till recently, greatly
destroyed, but they have been restored by Mr. Galloway,[188] who has no
doubt, judging from what remained, that they were all originally
round-headed, and has rebuilt them accordingly.
So far as these indications go, this would appear to have been a Norman
church. There is an apparent chancel at the east end, but its dimensions
and origin are not distinct. It is now appropriated as the “Monreith
Vault” (the mansion of that name being in the vicinity), and contains a
good deal of modern work.
One peculiarity of the east chamber is, that the north wall is in line
with the north wall of the nave, while the south wall is set back four
feet from the line of the south wall of the nave.
There is an arch between the nave and chancel, but it has not the
appearance of a genuine chancel arch, being rudely formed with thin
slatey stones. A wing, 14 feet long by 12 feet wide, is jutted out at
the back or north side of the chancel. The walls are little over 2 feet
in thickness. There is a square-headed doorway in the south-west angle,
and an ambry or recess in the north wall. A roughly-built archway,
similar to that into the nave, but smaller, opened from the nave into
the north aisle, but is now built up.
The nave seems to be of Norman date. The choir has evidently been
altered at a late period, and the north wing or aisle may have been
built in post-Reformation times as a burial vault.
The ground to the north rises rapidly, and was filled in to the height
of the walls, till cleared out by Mr. Galloway.
There would appear to have been some kind of extension to the west, but
only the lower parts of walls and buttresses now remain. This portion
was also filled with earth, and on being cleared out, remains of ten
skeletons were discovered. This west wall is at the extremity of a long
retaining wall, which encloses the present burying-ground, and runs
along close above the shore.
The place is very curious and romantic, lying near the sea at the foot
of high cliffs, and densely wooded all round.
HERDMANSTON FONT, HADDINGTONSHIRE.
This is one of the few minor relics of the Norman period which have
descended to our time. It stands in the burial vault of the Sinclairs of
Herdmanston, adjoining the mansion house of that name, about five miles
west from Haddington.
The font is of yellow freestone, in one piece, and although somewhat
worn and battered in part, is still in a good state of preservation. The
base is partly damaged, and the surface of the top is somewhat broken
away towards the front (Fig. 349), so that it measures a little higher
at the back than at the front.
As will be seen from the Plan (Fig. 350), the central part consists of
four rounded shafts, having a boldly pronounced base moulding. The
basin is in the form of a Norman cushion capital, with four rounds on
each face, the abacus having a splayed projection of about a quarter of
an inch. The font has evidently been meant to be placed against a wall,
as all its parts--base, shaft, and capital--abut against a square haffit
perfectly plain on the back, to admit of its standing in such a
position. The ends of this haffit are very much broken.
The dimensions of the font are--base, 7 inches high; shaft, 17 inches;
capital, 11 inches; total height, 2 feet 11 inches. Width across shafts,
13¼ inches; capital, 16¾ inches across front, and from back to front,
[Illustration: FIG. 349.--Herdmanston Font.]
including haffit, 17¼ inches. The basin, which is rounded (see Plan), is
11¾ inches wide by 5 inches in depth. It is flat in the bottom and has
no perforation.
In the thirteenth century, John de Saint Clair erected a chapel at
Herdmanston by leave of the Canons of Dryburgh, to whom he granted two
acres of land, with a condition that his chapel should not injure the
mother church of Salton, which belonged, in the time of David I., to
Dryburgh Abbey.[189]
The vault at Herdmanston stands east and west. It is about 31 feet 10
inches long by 14 feet wide, and has a small west window, with a
sconsion arch on the inside, and a smaller window in the south wall.
The structure, which is barrel vaulted, is of considerable age, but it
is not the chapel erected in the thirteenth century; and as the font is
a work of
[Illustration: FIG. 350.--Herdmanston Font. Details.]
the twelfth century, it is evident that it was not made for the chapel
of Herdmanston.
[Illustration: From Dunfermline Abbey.]
THE TRANSITION STYLE
The term “transition” might be applied to any of the periods during
which one Gothic style is passing into another, as the buildings erected
at such periods partake of a transitional character. But the change from
the round arched and elaborately ornamented Norman to the pointed arched
and plainer style of the first pointed period being more marked than
that between any of the other Gothic periods, it has been generally
agreed to reserve the term “transition” for the architecture of the end
of the twelfth century, when the Norman style gradually gave place to
the first pointed Gothic style.
The chief elements which mark the Transition style are the gradual
introduction of the pointed arch and its use along with some of the
decorative features of the Norman style. The pointed arch shows the
advent of the new style, but the ornaments of the old style continue to
linger for a time. The first pointed style was not complete till these
old ornaments were abandoned, and the more vigorous enrichments of the
new style were introduced. The other constructive features of the Norman
style gradually changed at the same time as the arch. The buttresses by
degrees assumed the projecting form of the first pointed style, and the
pinnacles and spires of the latter style were in course of time
introduced.
During the progress of the Transition there was naturally a considerable
mixture of architectural elements. The round and the pointed arch were
used indiscriminately, and were frequently employed together in the same
structure, round arches being sometimes placed above pointed arches. Of
this there are examples in the nave of Jedburgh Abbey and the south
transept of Elgin Cathedral. In other instances, although the building
is chiefly Norman, the pointed style is introduced in certain positions;
as, for example, at Kelso Abbey, where to all appearance, contemporarily
with the Norman walls, the piers and pointed arches of the crossing are
in the first pointed style. At Dundrennan Abbey we find the older Norman
work partly converted into first pointed by alteration, and in other
examples, such as Coldingham, there is a mixture of the features of the
two styles.
In many of the examples of the different periods, given or to be given,
some Norman features may be discovered which, it might be thought,
entitled the structures to be ranked as transitional. The buildings,
however, have been arranged under the various periods to which the most
prominent, not the most ancient, portions of their architecture belong.
In England the period of Transition extends from about 1180 to 1200;
but, as we shall find, the corresponding period in Scotland extends
considerably into the thirteenth century.
DUNDRENNAN ABBEY, KIRKCUDBRIGHTSHIRE.
The greater part of this very interesting structure has been demolished,
but what remains is so fine as to make one regret all the more the hard
usage the demolished portions have met with.
The abbey stood in a small, but deep, valley on a few acres of
comparatively level ground lying on the west side of a little stream
called the Abbey Burn, about a mile and a-half from the sea. The edifice
is concealed in this remote and buried situation, and is with difficulty
discovered after traversing a hilly road of six or seven miles
south-east from Kirkcudbright. But when found, the quiet and secluded
site, and the peaceful aspect of the grey ruins, surrounded with ancient
trees, are very charming.
The monastery has been of considerable extent (Fig. 351). The church was
large, being 209 feet from east to west by 108 feet from north to south
of the transept, and comprised a great nave with double aisles, a choir
without aisles, north and south transepts with eastern aisles, and a
tower and spire 200 feet high over the crossing. The monastic buildings
which surrounded the cloister garth were of the usual description, and,
to judge from the remains of the chapter house, were of exceptionally
fine design.
Of all these extensive structures the great nave and the tower and spire
have almost entirely disappeared, and there now survive only portions of
the north and south transept and choir, a beautiful fragment of the
chapter house, some walls of cellars on the west side of the cloister
garth, and other walls containing a few carved caps which show how fine
the design of the cloisters must have been.
The abbey was founded by David I. about 1142, and was colonised by
Cistercians from Rieval in Yorkshire. Its history is little known.
Robert I. and David II. both conferred lands upon it. In 1568, after her
flight from Langside, Queen Mary was welcomed at Dundrennan by Abbot
Edward Maxwell, brother of Lord Maxwell. The abbey was then entire, and
contained all its inmates. The queen embarked for England from Port
Mary, at the mouth of the Abbey Burn.
In 1587 James VI. annexed Dundrennan to the Royal Chapel of Stirling,
and the Maxwells became the heritable bailies of the lands.[190] The
ruins now belong to the Maitlands of Dundrennan. It is not known how the
structure was reduced to its present dilapidated condition. By some it
is stated to have been destroyed by fire, while others attribute its
condition to neglect. It has undoubtedly met with the usual fate of
[Illustration: FIG. 351.--Dundrennan Abbey. Plan.]
our old abbeys, and was used as a quarry till 1842, when it was put in
repair by the Commissioners of Woods and Forests, and it is now in fair
preservation.
The nave of the church (see Fig. 351) was 134 feet long within the
walls, and comprised eight bays. The central division was 31 feet wide,
[Illustration: FIG. 352.--Dundrennan Abbey. Western Doorway.]
and each aisle 16 feet wide, giving a total width of 63 feet internally.
Of this part of the church only portions of the west end and south wall
remain. The west wall contains the original western doorway, which is of
simple Transition design. The doorway had three nook shafts besides the
jambs, and the arches are in four orders of plain mouldings (Fig. 352).
The caps, which have square abaci, are peculiar from the large quantity
of very small nail head ornaments with which they are decorated (Fig.
353). The inner mouldings were renewed by the Government in 1842. The
west wall retains the responds of the main piers of the nave, and a
portion of one of the piers, being the westmost of the south arcade of
the nave, also exists, both showing a
[Illustration: FIG. 353.--Cap of Western Doorway.]
[Illustration: FIG. 354.--Dundrennan Abbey. From South-West.]
bold early pointed section (see A on Plan). There were seven piers on
each side of the nave, besides the west responds and the piers of the
crossing. A good deal of early pointed work is also carried into
[Illustration: FIG. 355.--Dundrennan Abbey. Wall Shafts in Clerestory of
Choir.]