Abbeys -- Scotland; Cathedrals -- Scotland; Church architecture -- Scotland
The west end of the nave is in part amongst the ancient portions of
the structure, and the western entrance doorway is thirteenth
century work.[389] The aisle windows of the west front belong to the
first pointed period. The upper portion of the west front above the
two large windows is of considerably later date.[390] "The design of
the west front, which contains above the door-piece two large
windows, with pointed niches and small circles inserted between the
arch-heads, is probably original, but the upper portion and gable,
including the large traceried window, are doubtless part of the
restoration of the fifteenth century. The tracery of the two central
windows is peculiar, and may possibly be of the fourteenth century,
but that of the large upper window is later, probably of the same
period as the restoration of the interior of the nave. The tracery
of the large upper window is a specimen of the late kind of design
employed in Scotland in the fifteenth century."[391]
The interior of the west end of the nave exhibits the change of
style caused by the restoration of the fifteenth century. The first
or western bay of the main arcade is original, including the first
arches (one on each side), the first pillars, and the arches between
them, and the aisle responds. "These pillars and arches are of large
dimensions and first pointed section, and appear to have been
designed to carry western towers, but a part of their thickness has
been cut off next the choir. A portion of the triforium wall, a
piece of the string-course over the main arcade, and the corbelled
vaulting shaft in the angle as high as the top of the triforium, are
also parts of the original structure. The later work has been joined
to the above old parts in a very awkward manner."[392] The cap of
the west pier on the north side belongs to the first pointed work,
while the corresponding cap on the south side and all the other caps
belong to the fifteenth century restoration.[393] Except the west
piers, the piers of the nave are of the clustered form, common in
late Scottish work, and might be about the same date as the
restoration of St. Giles, Edinburgh (which they resemble), in the
early part of the fifteenth century.[394]
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