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
Many of the Provosts of Lincluden were men of distinction. For instance,
John Cameron (who died in 1446), besides holding important offices under
the Crown, was afterwards made Bishop of Glasgow; John Winchester, who
died in 1458, became Bishop of Moray; Andrew Stewart, who died in 1501,
was appointed to the Bishopric of Moray; and William Stewart (1545)
became Bishop of Aberdeen. Robert Douglas, the last Provost, enjoyed the
benefice for forty years after the Reformation. Like other incumbents
about that period, he endeavoured to dispose of the property for his own
benefit, but was opposed by the prebendaries. Some of the latter
continued to occupy the college till 1567;[144] and mass was sung in the
church so late as 1586, under sanction of Lord Maxwell. The reversion of
the provostry fell to William Douglas of Drumlanrig, grand-nephew of the
last Provost. Lincluden was erected into a temporal barony in 1565, and
subsequently passed into the hands of the Earl of Nithsdale, whose
descendant, Captain Maxwell of Terregles, has done much for the repair
and preservation of what remains of this charming old building.
A few traces of the original Norman masonry have been discovered. The
church seems to have occupied the same site as the existing building,
and to have consisted of a nave, 56 feet by 20 feet, and a choir of the
same width. There was a north aisle, 9 feet wide, with cylindrical
pillars and a depressed arcade. A south aisle probably also existed. The
western door (4½ feet wide) can be traced, which had a semicircular arch
of several orders. These facts were all ascertained during recent
excavations.[145]
The Plan (see Fig. 799) shows the arrangements of the church of the
fifteenth century and the other buildings, so far as preserved. The
church consisted of a choir, which is in a fair state of preservation,
except the roof and vaulting, the former of which has disappeared since
Grose’s time. It is separated by a stone screen, with a wide doorway,
from the nave and transept, which are greatly demolished, only the walls
of the south transept and part of that of the south aisle of the nave
now remaining. The choir is without aisles, and consists of three bays.
It is 44 feet in length by 19 feet 6 inches in breadth internally. The
nave and transept measured about 56 feet in length from the choir
screen, and the nave appears to have contained three bays, with a window
in each. It had an aisle on the south side. The responds of the piers
still partly exist at the east and west ends. The nave and transept were
about the same size as the original nave--viz., 56 feet long, the former
being 20 feet and the aisle 12 feet broad.
The transept was without aisles, and was 14 feet in width, and projected
12 feet 6 inches beyond the nave aisle. There are foundations traceable
on the north side of the nave, but it is not clear to what buildings
these belonged. It is not improbable, however, that there may have
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