The ecclesiastical architecture of Scotland from the earliest Christian times to the seventeenth century; vol. 1/3MacGibbon, David
History
The ecclesiastical architecture of Scotland from the earliest Christian times to the seventeenth century; vol. 1/3
MacGibbon, David
Church architecture -- Scotland
[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.]
the transept, but it is clear, from the architecture of the building,
that the transepts have been originally erected in an earlier style, and
that the first pointed work is the result of alteration. This is
especially apparent in the north transept, the external walls of which,
on the west and north, are distinctly Norman, in character (Fig. 354).
The round arched windows (with square recesses or nooks for shafts on
the outside), the broad buttresses with small projections, and the form
of the caps are quite characteristic of that style. The same remarks
apply to the south transept so far as the outer walls survive. In the
choir also the Norman character of the early work is distinctly seen.
Only portions of the side walls of the choir remain, the east end having
been entirely demolished. In the upper or clerestory windows of the side
walls are found very characteristic examples of late Norman work. The
large plain round openings of the clerestory and the triple shafts with
Norman caps and corbels (Fig. 355) are unmistakable features. The choir
and transept were apparently at first completed in this style late in
the twelfth century, and sometime in the thirteenth century it has been
desired to build the nave on a larger scale. It has then been also
resolved to rebuild the interior of the transept, including the piers at
the crossing, in the same style as
[Illustration: FIG. 356.--Arch of Doorway in Choir, and of Arcades in
Cloisters.]
the nave, so as to bring the transept as far as possible into harmony
with the new design. The pointed work is evidently of an early character
(see Fig. 354). The squat round-headed windows of the clerestory, with
their broad internal splay occurring above the pointed windows of the
triforium, indicate a period of Transition. The use of the square abacus
is also general throughout the work. The very acute form of the main
arches of the transepts has probably arisen from the three bays having
to be fitted into the space between the old north and south end walls,
and at the same time requiring to be carried up as high as the main
arches of the new nave. The piers of the transept are 13 feet from
column to column, while those of the nave were about 16 feet from column
to column. The outer walls of the east aisles of the transepts, which
were part of the original Norman structure, were not renewed at the time
of the above alteration, but they have now been demolished, only
fragments being left, from which, however, the form of the vaults can be
inferred.
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