Old Aberdeen is situated on the river Don, about two miles north from
the town of Aberdeen on the Dee. The cathedral, which is dedicated to
St. Machar, is built in granite, and is now considerably reduced in size
from its original dimensions. The nave (Fig. 1004) is entire and is used
as the parish church. The walls of the transepts exist only to the
height of about 10 feet. The choir has been entirely destroyed. The
bishop’s palace, which stood at the east end of the cathedral, has also
disappeared. It was a large building, and “had a fine court, having a
high tower at each of its four corners; an outer and inner gate; with a
deep well in the middle of the court; and an iron gate by which the
bishop passed from his palace into the choir.”[40]
The cathedral stands on the north side of an extensive churchyard, and
the situation is pleasant, having the houses of the chanonry--some of
them quaint-looking and interesting--approaching it on the south. On the
north it is skirted by high trees, which grow on a steep bank sloping
down from the cathedral towards the Don.
The seat of the bishop was translated from Murthlack or Mortlack, in
Banffshire, to Aberdeen by King David I. in the year 1136, St. Nectan
being the last bishop of Mortlack and the first of Aberdeen. The third
bishop, Matthew Kinninmond, began to build a cathedral between 1183 and
1199 to supersede the primitive church then existing, “which [new
building], because it was not glorious enough, Bishop Cheyne threw
down.”[41]
A second edifice was begun by Bishop Cheyne shortly after 1282, and the
work went on till the time when the country was involved in the war with
Edward I. After Bruce was seated on the throne, Cheyne was temporarily
banished, and “during his absence the king, seeing the new cathedral he
had begun, made the church to be built with the revenues of the
bishoprick.”[42]
The cathedral thus erected was in its turn thrown down by Bishop
Alexander Kinninmond, who succeeded in 1355, and he began a new building
on a still larger scale about the year 1370. Of his operations there
remain two large piers for the support of the central tower, which form
the earliest portion of the structure of St. Machar’s now remaining.
These piers are built of red freestone, and are much more graceful and
[Illustration: FIG. 1004.--St. Machar’s Cathedral. Plan.]
refined in character than the succeeding work, most of which is
constructed in granite. Bishop Kinninmond may possibly have built the
bay of the nave adjoining for a buttress to the central tower. Freestone
mouldings similar to those of the tower still remain at the springing,
as if they had continued across to the first pillar; but the arch must
have been taken down, as the existing bays are all of granite, and the
granite mouldings--which are of quite a different section--are seen to
butt against those of Kinninmond’s time.
The nave may be said to be all of one period, and appears to have been
principally built, including the two western towers, by Bishop Henry
Leighton between 1422 and 1440. It was roofed in by his successor,
Bishop Lindsay, and in the _View of the Diocese_ it is said to have been
leaded over by the Bishops Elphinston and Dunbar, and “ceiled by this
last,” A.D. 1518-1531. The flat ceiling of oak erected by Bishop Dunbar
still remains (Fig. 1005), having been constructed by him at his own
“pains and expenses.” “James Winter, an Angus man, was architect of the
timber work and ceiling of said church; which was well done, and may
make his name famous to after ages.”[43] It is ornamented with heraldic
decorations, containing the arms of various European kings, Pope Leo X.,
the Scottish nobility, and Churchmen. These have been drawn and
illustrated in colour by the New Spalding Club. Bishop Dunbar also
finished Leighton’s towers by adding the spires (Fig. 1006) in grey
freestone. The general colour of the granite work is of a reddish yellow
tint.
The edifice as it now stands measures on the outside as follows,
viz.--length of nave about 143 feet, width 77 feet. The transept is
about 121 feet long by 37 feet 6 inches wide. The centre alley of the
nave is 30 feet 6 inches wide. The towers are about 23 feet 6 inches
square, and about 111 feet high.
The west front of St. Machar’s (see Fig. 1006) is entirely built with
granite, except the spires, and is one of the most impressive and
imposing structures in Scotland. It is extremely plain, not a single
scrap of carving being visible anywhere, and most of the openings are of
the simplest kind. This front is a veritable piece of Doric work,
depending for its effect on its just proportion and the mass of its
granite masonry. The towers and spires are of equal height, and almost
identical in design. The great corbels and machicolations of the parapet
are clearly derived from castellated forms, and the embrasured bands
round the spires and their numerous lucarnes are distinct signs of the
late date of their construction. The entrance doorway (Fig. 1007) is
remarkable, the jambs being mere rounds and hollows, with a flat stone
laid along at the springing of the round arch, marking where the
capitals usually stand, while the arch mouldings are of the most
elementary kind, all being designed to suit the hard granite of which
they are constructed. Above this doorway is one of the most striking
features of the composition, viz.--the seven lofty narrow windows (see
Fig. 1006), about 26 feet in height, and each crowned
[Illustration: FIG. 1005.--St. Machar’s Cathedral. The Nave, looking
West.]
[Illustration: FIG. 1006.--St. Machar’s Cathedral. West Front.]
[Illustration: FIG. 1007.--St. Machar’s Cathedral. West Doorway.]
with a round and cusped arch (Fig. 1009). The ground story of both
towers is barrel vaulted; the apartment in the south tower has had a
rude door knocked through the front wall, and is now used as a place for
keeping spades and shovels in.
[Illustration: FIG. 1008.--St. Machar’s Cathedral. View from
South-West.]
The south elevation (Fig. 1008) is marked by the same simplicity as the
west front, being designed to suit the intractable material of which it
is built. The clerestory is an absolutely plain wall, pierced by narrow
round arched windows, without a moulding of any kind, while the windows
of the side aisles are filled with the simplest tracery. The effect of
this part of the building is much marred by the removal of the parapet
which formerly ran along the top of the wall. The south porch is a
dignified structure. It was evidently meant to have a room over the
entrance, for which a window is provided; but there is no indication of
there ever having been an upper floor or an access stair, and the
considerable height, as viewed from the inside, has an unmeaning
appearance. The resemblance between this porch and the south porch of
St. Michael’s, Linlithgow, is striking, both having the inner
crow-stepped gable built on the aisle wall. In the latter porch the
upper room has been completed.
[Illustration: FIG. 1009.
St. Machar’s Cathedral.