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
It is a splendid specimen of first pointed architecture (Fig. 359). In
the centre is the doorway, and on each side a window, divided into two
openings by a central shaft. The doorway and windows were, as usual,
designed to remain open, so that the brethren in the cloisters might
hear all that passed in the chapter house.
The features are all beautifully designed, and the details are of the
purest and most elegant forms (see Fig. 358), the whole being enriched
with finely carved dog-tooth and other ornaments.
[Illustration: FIG. 362.--Dundrennan Abbey. Caps in Cloisters.]
In the arch mouldings a very profuse employment of the fillet is
noticeable. The panels in the tympanum over the double arch of the
windows, both in the exterior and interior, are filled in with plain,
but finely designed, geometric figures (Fig. 360), and the simple bold
cusps of the doorway have been carved with foliaceous scroll work, now
almost obliterated by decay.
Internally the design of this front wall (Fig. 361) corresponds almost
exactly with that of the outside, but is, perhaps, even more effective
from containing the vaulting shafts and the springing of the broken
groins.
The west wall of the chapter house is altogether a very exquisite piece
of pointed work, and was probably executed just before the disturbances
of the end of the thirteenth century, which interrupted, and for a time
stopped, all architecture in Scotland. The style is clearly later than
the early pointed work of the transept, the round abaci and the filleted
mouldings contrasting with the square abaci and the pointed or round
mouldings of the transept.
On the west side of the cloisters is a row of ruinous cellars, still
partly vaulted, but not very accessible. On the south side are the door
to what may have been a large chamber, probably the refectory, and some
remains of domestic buildings. (See Fig. 361.)
The north and east walls of the cloister still retain the remains of
some sharply cut caps, of what has been an arcade, with arches about 3
feet 6 inches apart. The designs have evidently been very varied and
full of spirit (Fig. 362), but it is scarcely possible to find one
sufficiently well preserved to enable a complete sketch to be made.
The monuments of this abbey are not numerous, but they are interesting.
In the recess of the north side doorway of the west end (now built up)
is a large figure of an abbot, with his crozier, standing on the
prostrate body of a man. This is known as the Abbot’s Stone. Another
monument is called the Cellarer’s Stone, and shows a figure standing on
serpents. It is dated 1480. There is also a monument containing a female
figure, with an inscription partly defaced, but bearing the date of
1440. A plain monument to Frater Blackmore is probably of the fourteenth
century.
JEDBURGH ABBEY, ROXBURGHSHIRE.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account