The ecclesiastical architecture of Scotland from the earliest Christian times to the seventeenth century; vol. 2/3MacGibbon, David
History
The ecclesiastical architecture of Scotland from the earliest Christian times to the seventeenth century; vol. 2/3
MacGibbon, David
Church architecture -- Scotland
The church (see Fig. 632) was cruciform, having a nave, with a north
aisle only; transepts, with eastern aisles; and a short aisleless
presbytery. The length of the nave was about 120 feet, and the width
about 35 feet between the walls. The transepts were about 70 feet long
from north to south by about 38 feet in width within the walls, and the
total internal length of the church was about 190 feet. The whole
structure was of one period, being entirely of first pointed or
thirteenth century work; so much at least can be surmised from the Plan
and from the west doorway (Fig. 633). The doorway projects about 9
inches from the face of the wall, and in the ingoing had five shafts in
each jamb, all detached except one, and there was also a shaft in the
outer angles of the projection in front of the west wall. In the nooks
between the shafts there are smaller beads or shafts, all treated with
separate caps. On either side of the outer shafts the dog-tooth ornament
occurs. The jamb mouldings are much better preserved than those of the
arch, the former having been buried in the ruins for centuries, while
the latter, being within the reach of mischievous hands, have been very
much defaced. An idea of the character of the mouldings will be obtained
from the enlarged section (see Fig. 633); there was only one enrichment,
and that was the dog-tooth. It will be observed that the inner moulding
of the arch does not come to a point, but has a kind of flat keystone
introduced, although the outer mouldings appear to have met in the usual
way. A few bases of the shafts of a wall arcade remain against the south
wall of the nave. An angle buttress at the north-east corner of the
transept indicates later work, probably inserted here owing to the
failure of the original buttresses, which are flat, and have little
projection to support the vaulting.
The cloister, which lay on the south side of the church, was about 80
feet square. On the east side of the cloister, in a line with the south
transept, there occurred first the slype and then the chapter house. The
latter was a small apartment of about 21 feet square, which was, as
usual, vaulted, and had an octagonal centre pillar.
A long, narrow building, which was doubtless the refectory, occupied the
south side of the cloister. It measured about 70 feet long by 25 feet
wide. To the east of this there are situated a cottage and an outhouse;
the latter is certainly quite modern, and the cottage may have been a
part of the monastery.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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