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
It will be seen from the drawing (Fig. 1100) that the plan of the tower
piers is peculiar. The two western piers stand out from the angle of the
walls of the nave and transept, to which they are attached by a strip of
masonry, only some 9 or 10 inches thick. The tower is thus considerably
off the centre of the transept, and is much less in breadth than the
limbs of the cross. The two eastern piers project from the angle into
the choir, but not so as to diminish the width of the transept. It is
difficult to account for the extremely unusual and eccentric position of
the tower supports. Possibly the choir and tower were first built, and
when the nave and transepts were erected, it was thought desirable to
make them wider than at first intended. The piers of the crossing are
simply splayed and notched on the inner diagonal faces, and they are all
alike; but the arch faces or mouldings vary, those of the nave and
transepts corresponding with the piers, while the choir arch is moulded
on both faces with shallow mouldings. The former arches spring from
moulded caps (see section Fig. 1100) and the latter from caps carved and
moulded
[Illustration: FIG. 1101.
The Collegiate Church of Dunglass.
Cap of Tower Arch, Choir.]
(Fig. 1101). The splayed base of the piers is omitted on the chancel
side.
The windows in the end walls of the nave, choir, and transepts are all
pointed, and were filled with tracery; but the tracery in every case is
gone, and the west wall under the window sill has been cut out to allow
of the passage of carts and horses. Below the end windows of the
transept and sacristy are sepulchral recesses, which were probably
enriched with cusping, which is now cut away. The ornamental brackets
for supporting these enrichments have label terminations of angels. One
of these, playing on a stringed instrument, is shown in Fig. 1102. The
side windows of the church have segmental sconsion arches and double
lights, with massive tracery (see Figs. 1099 and 1103). The north and
south doorways of the nave are round arched, with moulded jambs (see
Fig. 1097). The other doorways are plain, with lintels.
[Illustration: FIG. 1102.
The Collegiate Church of Dunglass.
Corbel in Sacristy.]
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