• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

III. THE DEVELOPMENT OF INCHCOLM ABBEY. BY J. WILSON PATERSON, M.V.O., M.B.E., F.S.A.ScoT. Before Inchcol s disfigure mwa e fortification th y b d s erected during the war it was perhaps the most beautiful of the islands in the Forth Fig. 1. Inchcolm Abbey, before 1883, from the south. (fig. 1). The rocky promontories at the east and west tail off and merge int onarroa w isthmus, formin gnaturaa l harbounorte th n ho rshore . On this narrow strip of land, sheltered from the east and west, stand the mose th f tremaino interestine on f so g building Scotlandn si ; interesting not only on account of its historical and romantic associations but also in 228 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , MARC , 1926H8 . regard to the buildings themselves, as they constitute, without excep- tion e onlth , y monastery extan Scotlann i t d which show complete th s e arrangemen establishmene th f to t (fig. 8) . Althoug edifice welho th s s le i t previouslpreserve no s wa t di y possible —owin conversioe th o gt largee th f nro portio monastie th f no c buildings int omodera n dwelling-house—to determin e extenvarioue eth th f o t s office their o s r true function. Referenc e literaturth subjece o et th n eo t doe t helsno p matters apar, as , t fro historicae mth l notes descriptioe th , n of the buildings in the various books is for the most part contradictory and unconvincing t untino s l 1924wa t I , .whe Eare n th f Mora lo y placed the remains under the guardianship of H.M. Commissioners of Works, that it was possible to remove the modern works and make an exhaustive study of the buildings. It is my purpose to lay before you the result of the investigation, and with the aid of carefully prepared plans to trace the development of the monastery from its foundation in 1123 to its dissolution in the 16th century. The many alterations and modern repairs madeaso n yt ei matte deteco t r e originath t l work planse th ; , o sensn however n ei conjecturae ar e prepare, ar t bu ld from actual evidence found. In defining the dates of the various additions little help s obtainei d from historical records d onl an ,f y theso verw e yfe refe r directly to the buildings. They are, nevertheless, important, and it is expedient to repeat them here. A Columban hermit appears to have lived on Inchcolm up to the 12th century, and the Scotichronicon narrates * " that the Abbey owes its foundation to Alexander I. who in 1123 was driven ashore on the island storma followers y b hi , d wheran se eh wer e maintaine r thredfo e days e hermib yth theo wh nt made Inchcol divideo s retreatmwh hi d d an , with them his scanty fare of shell-fish and the milk of one cow. In recognitio s safhi e f o ndelivery , Alexander founde d endowean d a d monastery and brought to it Augustinian canons from the Abbey he had established at Scone. The monastery continued to prosper, and in 1216 receive a dlarg e additio s possessionit o t n s from Allan Mortimer, proprieto e domaith f ro f Aberdour no e mainlanth n o , d adjoiningo wh , purchased the right of interment in the church by bestowing on the Abbey one half of his estate." The islan s alwaydha s been celebrate placa s f burialda eo thid an ,s fac s referrei t y Shakespearb o t d Macbethn ei connection i n wite th h defeat of " Sweno, Norway's King." "Nor would we deign him burial of his men Till he disbursed at St Colm's Inch Ten thousand dollargenerar ou o st l use." 1 MacGibbon and Ross, The Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 308. THE DEVELOPMENT OF INCHCOLM ABBEY. 229 recordes i t I d tba 1265n ti , Richard, Bisho f Dunkeldpo w , builne e th t choir at his own expense, and at his death in 1272 his heart was laid in the north wall of the new choir.1 The Abbey was plundered by the English many times in the 14th century referenca d Pluscardene ,an th n ei Chronicle relatin attacn a o gt k by Richar 138n i 4. dII states t cami 2 :t paso "et Bu s tha greaa t t bark fleer wa t s committehi f o t ou d many outrageous ravage t Columba'S n so s island of Eumonia, and entirely stripped the said place both of the ornaments of the church and of the furniture of the place; and whe e ruffianth n s would have burnet dse dowd e churcha th n d an h a house firo t e adjoining e church,th a stron3 g wind ble e flamewth s back upon them and burned and suffocated them almost all; and thus t ColumbS a miracl y b a e save s churchi d h from being burned down by them." The Chapel of the Blessed Virgin adjoining the choir was founded in e priorth 140 y 2b , Richar f Aberdeendo d Thomaan , s Crawford, canon of Inchcolm.4 Previous to the Reformation the monastery seemed to have lost its importance n 154i 3d Abboan , t Henry resigne e buildindth officd an eg cease ever religioua dfo s ra s house. There are several interesting allusions to the Abbey in the Act of 1581, whicn i t hconfirmi s James Stewar firse th t s a Commendatot n i r possessio e 5 "Heth f ,n o Abbay Mansioud an , f Sanctcolmino s Insh,d "an later it states that " the said Hie with the Abbey, mansioun, dowcot, and zairdis thairin may be put to some proffitable use" in the hands of "the said James erl Murrayf lo airi s assignaisd hi , san theis a , r propertil al n ei tym cuming." The earlies remaine islanlittle e th th th f o es tn di o s cel l reputeo dt have been occupied by the hermit who succoured Alexander I. As this structure has already been described in the Proceedings by Sir James Y. Simpson onl yshora t descriptio necessarys ni irregulan a s i t I .r stone building with a pointed tunnel vault and measures some 19 feet along the interio e nortth feef 8 h o 1 rinche 6 twal d an ls alon e soutgth h wall; it varies in width from 5 feet at the west end to 6 feet at the east, and measures 7 feet 9 inches in height to the apex of the vault. The Scotichronicon, lib. x., c. 30. Since reading the paper a mural chamber 5 feet 8 inches lon1 g by 1 foot wide and 8 inches deep has been exposed in the position indicated above. t I appears a hearlarg e r othe th fo en ordinart smalo a n rburialto o r hand t fo s li ybu t ,i , e (fig. on 3) . * Alan Reid, Inchcolm Abbey,. 78 . p italice Th mine3e sar . ' MacGibbo Ross d Ecclesiasticale nan Th , Architecture of Scotland, 308. volp . ii . Alan Reid, Inchcolm Abbey,. 76 . p 5 230 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, MARCH 8, 1926. entrance doorway in the south wall is lintelled on the inside, the lintel being carrie projectinn do g stones, while ther a roug s ei he th arc n ho outside face which possibly connecte a vaulte o t d d entrance passage. The exteriovaulthe roofeis tof r d with roughly squared stones. The onl ye eas windoth e jamb t th n i e wall forme d ar s wsi an , n i d single stone e fulth sl thicknes e wall a thicresd th n f an o ,kt o s stone heae sill Th s formedi . a thi f no d stone lintel lai dwhole flatTh .e cell is built in mortar; this fact as well as the construction of the vault with radiating voussoirs is not usual in early Celtic work, and likels i t i y tha e celbees th tha l n much repaire t almosno f di t entirely rebuilt. Of the establishment founded by Alexander I. in 1123 nothing remains wit e exceptioth he churchth d f althougo nan , h this beeha s n very much altered to suit the later requirements, there is sufficient evidence to reconstruct the plan of the building (fig. 9). The church followed the usual Norman lines for a small establishment, and consists of a nav fee3 3 e4 inche t fees9 1 inc1 lon t y hb g wide, havin a gsmal l chancel approximately 21 feet long by 14 feet 7 inches wide. The nave has three doorways, the principal being at the west, a smaller entrance to the cloister in the south wall, and a still narrower door- way in the north wall. Evidence remains of four windows in the side walls of the nave. There would presumably have been a fifth window ove wese rth tl trace dooral t f thiso bu , s have been removey db e lateth r alterationsimpossiblw no s i o t determint I e . e positioth e n e windowo th fe chancel th traco t n i se detaile chancer eth o th , f o s l t awa cu e latte archs yth s durinrwa a , e 13th-centurgth y alteration.

Load more

  27

Copy Link