The ecclesiastical architecture of Scotland from the earliest Christian times to the seventeenth century; vol. 3/3MacGibbon, David
History
The ecclesiastical architecture of Scotland from the earliest Christian times to the seventeenth century; vol. 3/3
MacGibbon, David
Church architecture -- Scotland
To adapt the edifice to the Presbyterian system of worship, probably the
very worst plan which could have been devised has been adopted, and is
shown on the Plan by clear lines. The original fabric may be said to
remain, but it is greatly deformed. As the tower opened into the unbuilt
nave it had necessarily to be walled up, and has an entrance doorway
left in the centre. This doorway, which is round arched, seems to be
old,
[Illustration: FIG. 1166.--The Collegiate Church of Crichton. View from
South-East.]
and was probably brought from a building which appears to have formerly
stood on the north side of the church. Across the interior of the tower
a stone wall has been built to enclose the modern church. The portion of
the tower outside this wall thus forms a vestibule, from which a stair
[Illustration: FIG. 1167.--The Collegiate Church of Crichton. Window on
North Side.]
leads to a west gallery fitted up in the enclosed portion of the tower.
Another door has been slapped through the east wall to the outside, and
an outer stair at the east end leads to an inserted gallery running
across that end. One window and a sacristy or similar building on the
north side have been done away with, to allow the erection of a passage
for reaching another gallery, which runs along the north side of the
chancel. The north transept has, perhaps, been worst used of all. A wall
has been built between the moulded responds to a height of about 5 feet,
and the whole area of the transept at this level is roofed over to form
a burial vault. The south transept is not utilised in any way except as
a sort of lumber place.
Instead of this unsuitable and costly arrangement, the area of the
church as it stood would suffice to give more accommodation than is thus
obtained, and that without sacrificing the dignity of the building, as
has been done by the arrangements just described.
It would appear from a letter by the Rev. John Gourlay, the parish
minister, to General Hutton, dated Crichton, 4th April 1789, that the
[Illustration: FIG. 1168.--The Collegiate Church of Crichton. Sedilia.]
tower, with probably the transepts, then sufficed for the congregation.
He says, “There is a high building upon the one end where the bell
hangs, and where divine service was lately performed, but since
considerable reparations were given, it is now again altered to what is
called the quire.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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