94 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F SO , 1954-56.

VIII.

ARBROATH ABBEY.

BY STBWABT CRUDEN, A.B.I.B.A., F.S.A., F.S.A.ScoT., Inspecto Ancienf o r t Monuments for .

In the description of the ruins of Abbey, which is published in e officiath l guide book,1 attentio s drawni certaio nt n feature f unusuao s l interest. They are: (a) The over the great west doorway. (6) The external wall-arcading at the base of the two western towers. triforiume (cTh ) . Further discussio illustratiod nan thesf no e features migh welcomee b t d by students of Scottish mediaeval .

THE WEST DOORWAY AND ITS TRIBUNE. The deeply recessed great west doorwa e mosth s ti y distinctively romanesqu eabbee parth f yo t gives i t I n . enhanced architectural prominence by an unusual barrel-vaulted projection which supported an external gallery (Pis. XVI, 2). The gallery commande opeentrances e dth wa ninside d botth an o ,eht and to the outside of the church. Externally it was covered by 3 gablets, and the whole exterior elevation would have been a single architectural unit, a two-storeyed porch. Impressive porches either recessed into or advancing from the west wall are frequen medievan i t l churches, both secula conventuald an r greae Th t. late 11th-century cathedral of Lincoln, built by Bishop Remigius between 1092d 107an 4 , confronte worle dth d wit arralesn o ha n sf ythao deen5 p barrel-vaulted recesse s wesit n ti s facade. These survive, embedden i d 13th-century additions. They are arranged in increasing size towards the central and highest, which contains the great west doorway. Those on either navt e admisidi th f eo o t taisles lessee outeth d ; an r r recesse lofte sar y rounded niches without doorways. There is no upper tribune or gallery. t JedburgA h Abbe e greayth t romanesque west doorwa . 118c f 0yo dis- r finestinguisheou f to survivine on s g Transitional west se t frontss i t I . 1 Mackie, B .Cruden d L.an , , Stewart, ; Official Guide Book, H.M.S.O., 1954. ARBROATH ABBEY. 95 within a projecting porchway which is surmounted by 3 gablets. These are t open t containo ,bu n statue niches thers i r egallerya no ; Kelst A . o Abbey theruppen a s ei r chambe porcnorte e th th f n hri o transeptf ,o whice on s hi our outstanding romanesque compositions e porc Th s crownei .h a y b d single pediment, which cover chambee sth ry b ove doorwaye t li th r s i t I . narrow lancet windows betwee e columnnth interlacen a f o s d wall-. These windows were for light and viewing only, not for ceremony. Upper chambers over porches were not infrequently provided with served san chapelsporchwas e da th s immediat it d d an , yan e vicinity serve sheltes da auditoriud ran pilgrimr mfo penitentr so s assembled below.

FT 10 IO FT

Fig tribunee . Pla1 .th f no ; missing columns indicate crossesy db .

The tribune at Arbroath must have been for ceremonial and liturgical use, although evidencthero n altan s ei a r chapef o reo l furnishingsn I . point of fact it is highly improbable that it ever could have functioned as a chapel chambea , t outwarbecausn a no t s i bu r t edi extensio passaga f no e acros wese sth t gable (fig althougd . 1)An . h therrecoro n t havin i s ei f do g been a Galilee porch, there is the architectural evidence before us to suggest tha t mighti t well have been one, suc Walcots ha t exteriorefere th n s O to.r

of the west front of Lisieux, over a porch, there1 is a gallery where on Palm Sunda e Gloryyth , Lau Honoud dan s suni r g whe processioe nth n returns wit e sacramenth h t froe cemeterymth processioe Th . n symbolisee th s Apostles' journey to meet our Lord in Galilee after His resurrection, as He had commanded them to do. After an appropriate exchange of verses and chanting betwee processioe nth choia d rnan statione Galilee th n di e porch the great door was opened and the procession re-entered the church and returned through the to the choir. The tribune at Arbroath is reached by means of the wheel stair in the cornesoute th f ho r tower thenc d open a an , ny e b galler y acros cille sf th so > Walcott, M. B. C., Sacred Archceology (1868), 291. 96 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 1954-56.

the lower pair of tower windows. The passage penetrates the thickness of. towee th r walwhed lan n ove wese rth t doorway open seriea y archef sb s o s both to the inside and to the outside of the church (see plan, fig. 1). It e insideopenth o e navet s, th i.e. o ,t throug narrox hsi w pointed arches (PL XVI . Thes1) , e spring from octagonal shafts with moulded capitald san annulets enriched with nail-head ornament of late 12th- or early 13th-century type. To the outside it originally opened through three separate gablets advancing some four feet from three e archeexterioth n i s r e wallTh . gablets were supported by two intermediate columns set between a solid stone haffit at each end. The haffits remain but the three gablets and the columns supporting them have now vanished, leaving exposed what was never meane seenb o .t t Midway betwee e interioth n re arcadth d an e present exterior arches, plain round columns with moulded capitald an s bases support the lintels of the passage, which continues to the north tower. On the plan the missing piers are shown, thus, (^). The present writer considers this tribun originae b o et ls it work t bu , originalit bees yha n questioned. bees ha n t argueI d tha unusuae th t d an l

t entirelno y pleasing barrel-vaul1 t advancing beyon doorwae dth y muse b t addition carro a t t i ylatea o nt r tribune gallery overhead face th en O . of it, it does appear to be so, and to support the supposition, the pointed wall-arche splayee th n so d jambs flankin entrance gth t ground-leveea e ar l referred to as evidence of a date subsequent to the doorway proper, which is round-arche romanesqued d an romanesqu e th t Bu . mors ei e apparent than real. The aforesaid pointed arches are similar to those of the presbytery, the earliest part of the church, which was completed before 1214. The arch-mouldings over the door are deeply undercut and multiple, and they rise from moulded bell-capitals each with a round abacus, all Gothic characteristics. The early attribution is suggested by the semicircular arch-form and the survival of two characteristically romanesque details, viz. the undercut chevron and the "collar" or projecting rings motif which occur t Kelsa s o Abbe d Lamingtoyan n Parish Church, first hal f 12to f h century t Kilwinnina d an , g Abbey, wher t i adorne a pointes d arcf ho transitional or late 12th-century type. The doorway in fact, like the round- arched galler soute th hn yi transept, exemplifie survivae sth styla f lo e that was on the wane, and in default of structural evidence of alteration and addition, whic hclosa e examination doe t producesno tribune th , e muse b t accepted with it. completes wa ease d ten 1214Th y db , whe royae nth l founde buries wa r d before the high altar, in accordance with his wishes. It may have been completed before tha tabbee date foundeth s r ywa ,fo 117n di colonised 8an d monky b s from Kels than oi t year. Presumably mason-work began then. 123n I churce 3 th dedicated s hwa considerinn I . probable gth e dat thif eo s 1 M. and R., Bed. Arch., 11 (1896), 38. ARBROATH ABBEY. 97

porch in relation to a presumed steady building progress, it would seem that the outside limits are c. 1200 and 1233, and it is very probable that between c. 1210 and 1233 is the period. Exactly when does not much matter for our present purpose. It is sufficient to note the probability. The reversion outmoden a o t d styl remarkables ei , especiall comparison yi n wit pure hth e lancet Gothic of the earlier east end. Now took more than a passing interes progrese th work,e th n Castld i tstayed f o sRe an 1 et da durin e buildingth g operations. seeme H havo t s e pestered thoso wh e

were overseers and master2 s of the works. Is it due to his life that the east end is remarkably advanced in style, and to his death that the west door is not? Nothing like this tribune occurs anywhere els Scotlandn ei Englann I . d Galilee porchet uncommonno e t slikar t no thee e thist bu Durha, yar A . m (c. 1180) and Ely (c. 1200-15) they are separate buildings projecting far in advance of the west front; at Lincoln the Galilee of c. 1230 is a separate building attache e soutth ho dt transept n ScotlandI . , evidenco tw r efo which may have been Galilee porches exists in the shattered west front of Cathedral and in ruined Holyrood Abbey. They also were not like this, but were seemingly open arcaded screens over the west doorway. The Augustinian church at Dunstable has an open arcaded screen

. 123oc f 0 extendin3 g acros wese sth t gable t thibu ,s doe t projecsno t fromt i two-storeyea s a d porch t ElgiA . n passaga l e crosse wese th s t gable from towe nave toweropeo s rt i th eunsuspectet s o ni I t onl .d yan d from the outside.

THE WAIX.-ARCADING OF THE WESTERN To WEES. One of the most interesting minor features is a fanciful and effective variation of the blind or wall-arcading so popular with the Arbroath master exteriomasonse th n O r . tower e wallth f so s abov splayee eth d basement i t was developed a step further than the orthodox treatment. It is no longer a continuous row of arches, or a row of arches intersecting in the same plane, n arrangemena t bu f twoe overlappingo t on , , arcades wit e archeth h s staggere r alternatelo d y disposed (PI. XVII) e uppeTh .r range projects beyond the lower, and each of its shafts passed across the apex of the arch e samth en o level t shafte belono basee , th behine d Th f war so an s . dit uppethose th f eo r arcade bein course gon e below lowethose th inner f ero o r arcade. Consequently there is an effect of movement, of projection and recession, and rise and fall. On the west wall of the north tower the arches remain but the shafts are missing; on the west wall of the south tower both arche shaftd san s remain, obscure doubtlesd an y db slatee saveth ry db

1 Official Guide,. 19 . p 2 Wardlaw MSS., Fraser Chronicles, p. 49. 3 Kelso . 1128f , parene th , Arbroathf o t Galilea d ha , e porch entirely -projecting fro wese mth t front. VOL. LXXXVIII. 7 98 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 1954-56.

range, which was built against the west wall of the tower in the late 13th o earlt y 14th century. Fragmentar t corroborativybu e evidenc f thio e s overlapping arcading soute existth n hssoute o walth f hlo tower. This arrangemen wall-arcadinf o t quinconcen ge occur differenn si t forms —in Ely, Lincoln, Beverley Lisieun i d othed an x,an r French churches— but at no time or place did it form part of the common stock-in-trade of the mediaeval architect t occurI . s nowher epresene elsth Scotlann s ei a r t fa s da writer is aware. e Galileth n I e Cathedraly porcEl f ho whico t , h referenc s alreadha e y bee restoree th n n madei dd wesan , t portal t AlbansS f so outee th , r arcade is pulled well forward of the other; so much so that at Ely there is a miniature ribbed spanning the space between them (PI. XVIII, 1). At Lisieux (PI. XVIII forware th ) 2 , d shafts ris supporo et capitata straigha d - lan ten tablature, not an upper arcade. The closest parallels are to be found in St Hugh's choir, Lincoln (PI. XIX erecte, 1) , d betweee nth 119 n 1200i d 2d an ,an of Beverley Minster (PI. XX, 1). In the overlapping arcading of Hugh's choi outee rth r rangt builno ts e i wit innee ht overlaith rbu d upo, nit and the mouldings of the inner continue in all completeness behind the outer. It seems, as has been suggested, that the outer range was added. But

original intent to enrich this choir1 and its transepts with this unusual and beautiful double-arcading is probable. There is nothing awkward about it, which there would be were the outer range removed. At Beverley we have the closest resemblance to Arbroath. Here the effect of movement is quickened Purbecf o e us ke marbleth y b .

THE TRIFOEIUM. The western towers do not descend as solid walls to the ground, but are supported upon arches opening to the nave and aisles. This opens up the eacn i y htower aislba a es sa (Pis .XIX d XVI. an , 2) ,1 , The towers wer t flooree no theid an d r windows were serve timbey db r galleries, an expedient also adopted for access to the great transeptal lights. Now the triforium galleries over the nave aisles terminated abruptly against the blank east walls of the towers. Had the towers been floored at this level there would surely have been communication from the triforium gallery towere flooe th f th o r.o t Eve , withounso towea t r floor, this blank wall s hardli expectede b o usuae yt Th .l terminatio a triforiu f no m gallery agains transepta t againsr o , towea t r wit open ha n opewelln a s ni , arcade, usually similar to a bay of the triforium. Furthermore, had the tower arch which opens to the nave been raised to level a western transept would have been achieved t Kelso a opportunite s a ,Th . y of'achieving this strikin d unusuaan g l featur s overlookedwa e r probablo , y deliberately 1 , PortraitCookH. . G , of Lincoln Cathedral (Phoanix Press, 1950). 26 , 9 9 ARBROATH ABBEY. e rejectedcontraryth n O e continuatio.th , e navd triforiuth an ef o n m arcading across the tower to the west gable has obviously been the main consideratio designerse th f no . t woulI more db e logica havo t l flooea r insid behind e an triforiue dth m opening, but there is none. The west bay of the triforium arcading is in fact but a screen, a piercing in the south wall of the tower, contrived to continu appearanco et triforiua f eo m gallery wher suco en h thing existed.

Illustrations, save where otherwise stated, crownare copyright.