outside, rising above the lean-to roof of the aisles. It has been
contemplated, early in this century, to raise this wall and erect a
clerestory, and two of the windows adjoining the tower on the north side
(see Fig. 1043) have actually been built as part of a pretentious
design, with massive buttresses surmounted by high finials, but the work
has never been carried further, and indeed could not be carried further
to the west, as there is no proper support for such massive building.
Below the new clerestory (but not shown on the Plan) a new wall has been
brought up to support it.
Fig. 1044 shows a peculiarity in the west wall, which seems to indicate
that there has been some change of design here, the gable being thinned
above the western doorway. There is a tradition that the church extended
further west at one time, and it seems not improbable that a western
tower in the centre of the front may have been contemplated and even
begun. This tower, like those at Stirling, Linlithgow, and Dundee, may
have been intended to open towards the church, with a wide arch, of
which the jambs still remain; but this idea having been abandoned, and
any part of the tower which then had been built having been taken down,
the present makeshift gable was put up instead to fill up the gap,
which, in these circumstances, would be left for the supposed opening
into the church.
There is a large porch on the north side of the nave (see Fig. 1043),
called Halkerston’s Tower, the structure having been at one time much
higher than it is now. It was a two storied building, the upper story
having evidently been of great height and vaulted, as well as the lower
one (see Fig. 1033). Two-storied porches are met with at Aberdeen
Cathedral and Linlithgow Church, but they are not so rich in
architectural
[Illustration: FIG. 1042.--St. John the Baptist’s, Perth. Crossing,
looking South.]
adornment as this one seems to have been. This sketch is copied from a
drawing in the _Memorabilia_, a book seldom to be seen, so that this
[Illustration: FIG. 1043.--St. John the Baptist’s, Perth. View from
North-West showing New Clerestory, &c.]
view is not well known. The circular part of the stair which formerly
led to the upper floor, and now leads to a gallery over the north aisle,
[Illustration: FIG. 1044.--St. John the Baptist’s. Perth. View, showing
West End, &c.]
[Illustration: FIG. 1045.--St. John the Baptist’s, Perth. Lower Story of
Halkerston’s Tower.]
was finished with a conical spirelet like the corresponding feature at
Linlithgow, and the top of it is seen in the view. The lower part of the
tower, which forms the porch, is very effectively vaulted (Fig. 1045).
The round arched doorway leading from the porch to the church partakes
of the rudeness already referred to as characteristic of the whole
western part of the church. A curious coincidence between a part of this
church and of the Cathedrals of Dunblane and Dunkeld, all in the county
of Perth, may be referred to. The north-west window of the nave aisle in
the three buildings is treated in very much the same way in each
edifice, and these windows have all a very decided resemblance to each
other, and are quite unlike the other windows in their respective
structures. They are all three light windows, and have square heads at
Perth and Dunkeld, while at Dunblane the head is practically square,
having a very flat segmental arch. The south aisle wall of the nave
(Fig. 1046) is a curious medley (which we hope will not be restored).
The round arched doorway near the east end is, we presume, original; but
it is not easy to tell the new work from the old, as the mouldings of
all windows and doors on the outside have received a great amount of
patching with cement and paint, owing to the crumbling nature of the
stone.
The erection of the west end of the church is clearly referable to about
the time (1489) when, according to the _Lord High Treasurer’s Accounts_
(already cited) small payments were made “to the kirk werk of Pertht.”
It will be remembered that on the same day the payments were made to
Walter Merlioune, the mason, and the conjunction of the two payments
suggests the idea that Merlioune was the builder of the church. We have
already partly traced his career[73] and found that in all probability
he built the palace in Stirling Castle. The resemblance between the
fretted work over the panels containing statues at Stirling Castle and
that over the upper window in Halkerston’s Tower is certainly very
remarkable. There is also a resemblance in this feature of Halkerston’s
Tower to the large fretted panel over the outside of the east entrance
to Linlithgow Palace. At Linlithgow the panel is filled with heraldic
emblems, while at Perth it appears to have been intended to fill it with
statues, as indications of brackets for supporting them are shown in
three rows. There was a John Halkerston, “master of the work” to Mary of
Gueldres at the building of Trinity College Church, Edinburgh, between
1461 and 1469. It is quite possible that he may in some way have been
connected with the erection of the nave of St. John’s, and so his name
became attached to this tower as it was to a steep wynd in Edinburgh.
However this may be, all the details of the western part of this church
obviously belong to a late period, corresponding with above date.
The central tower (see Fig. 1046), which is about 31 feet square, could
only have been built after the adjoining part of the nave was reared.
It is a very simple structure, with one window in each face. The
parapet and corbelling were renewed about forty years ago, following in
the main
[Illustration: FIG. 1046..--St. John the Baptist’s, Perth. The Nave,
from South-West.]
the old details, which were, however, much obliterated. A good deal of
the stone facing was renewed at the same time.
The exterior of the church has been considerably altered and _improved_
at various times. An open parapet has been carried along the top of the
walls of the choir over the clerestory windows, and also along the walls
of the aisles and up the sloping gables of the east end. Dormer windows
to light the presbyterian galleries break in on this parapet on the
aisle walls, and windows for the same purpose, constructed of wood, are
seen on the roofs of the nave (see Fig. 1046). These dormer windows are
all shown on the print in the _Chronicle of Perth_ (see Fig. 1034), but
not the parapets. This print shows a large and very elaborate porch,
with a round arched doorway of many orders richly ornamented, as
occupying the eastmost bay of the choir. This was originally the gateway
or porch of the Carthusian Monastery of Perth, which, after the
demolition of the abbey in 1559, was set up in this position, where it
remained till about the end of the eighteenth century, “when it was
demolished by an edict of the Magistrates.”[74]
The effect of the interior of St. John’s is greatly marred by the cross
partitions already referred to. This is much to be regretted, as the
interior is exceedingly interesting, and, being in a comparatively fair
state of preservation, exhibits more of its original features than the
exterior does. When the church was complete, the effect of the gloomy
nave, with its lofty unpierced wall above the main arcade, and the noble
centre crossing, with the light refined choir beyond, must have been
very striking and grand.
A peculiarity of the church and another resemblance to the nave of
Dunblane and the north nave aisle of Dunkeld is the absence of vaulting
in the aisles which many of our Scottish churches have. The aisles in
St. John’s never were vaulted, the only parts so constructed being the
crossing and the north porch; the latter, it will be remembered, having
also an upper vaulted story. This want of vaulting is a great defect of
the church.