E KING'TH S CHAPE RESTALRIT LA TRIDUANA'T S D GAN S AISLE: A HEXAGONAL TWO-STORIED CHAPEL FIFTEENTE TH F O H CENTURY by IAIN MAcIVOR, B.A., F.S.A.SGOT. THE sunken vaulted chambe fifteenth-centura f o r y hexagonal building adjoine sth partly rebuilt medieval church of Restalrig. Only fragments remain of an upper chambe hexagone th f lowee o r Th . r chamber ,laird'e useth s dsa burial e vaulth n i t seventeent eighteentd han h centuries restored cleares an wa ,t r d190n D ou di y 7b Thoma sincs s ha Ross ed beean , n know 'Ss na t Triduana's Well-House' n 195I . 2 Churce th Scotlanf ho d Trustees gav hexagoe eth n int guardianshie oth thee th nf po Ministry of Works. Before repairs could be carried out it was necessary to regulate water-levee th sunkee th flooded n li n an d interior investigation A . n begu estabo nt - lish the original water-level showed that the presence of water was accidental, and suggested tha lowee th t rwell-hous a chambe t no s chapela t rwa ebu , part of James Ill's capella regis. This paper describe hexagone th s , examine s medievasit d an l modern history, and discusses the affinities and inspiration for an apparently unique design. I am especially indebted to my colleague Mr John Cartwright, who supervised survee th drawind yan g throughout r ChristopheM o t d an , r Connell respons i o wh ,- sible for the drawings as they appear in this paper, and Mr Angus Fraser, who executed the first set of drawings from a survey made in 1957. I wish also to thank my colleagues Mr Thomas Dalrymple, Mr George Hay and Mr James Pugh for their help, advic co-operationd ean I gratefull d An . y acknowledg assistance eth e I have received on continental material from Mile A. Neury, Centre de recherches sur les monuments historiques . PietersC . A ,. J Rijksdiens . , C Paris r M , t vooe d r Monumentenzorg . ZimmermannW Haguer e D th , d an , , Kunstdenkmaleraufhahme Rheinland, Bonn. I DESCRIPTION The ancient village of Restalrig (G.R.: NT 284745) now lies within the City of Edinburgh mutilatew fe A . d houseseventeente th f so d eighteenthan h centuries remain. Its rural setting, admired in the early nineteenth century, has been replaced t Margaret'S housiny e b th d gsan motive power depo Britisf o t h Railwayse Th . latter overlies the site of St Margaret's Well, from which the small hexagonal superstructure was largely removed to the Queen's Park in 1859. The parish church, hexago d churchyaran n f Restalrido shora depof e o gli d t. distancN an t e th o et well-site. Restalrig parish churc rectangulaa s hi r buildin fouf go r bays measuring exter- nally 66 ft. E. and W. by 23 ft. N. and S. (figs, i and 2). It is a restoration by William Burn in 1836 of the ruins of a fifteenth-century church. Burn erected the 8 24 PROCEEDING SOCIETYE TH F O S , 1963-64 . walls. gabl S t medieva W d westere Bu e.th an wal. d N ln an l e masonrendth f so y at the foot of the SW. church buttress and the infilling of the awkward angle between that buttress and the hexagon shows that the W. gable and buttresses were re- erecte line medievaf th eo n do l structures, whic 183y hb 6 must have bee vera n yi advanced stat decayf eo . Thu presene sth t church retain originale plae th sth f no . The rest of the present church is largely medieval with 1836 tracery replacement and fabric repairs: drawings made by James Skene in iSiS1 show the E. end and most of the N. and S. walls standing almost to the wall-heads. Burn's restoratio e externath f no l elevation faithfuls e surroundwa s Th . d an s tracer three th . windowf eyS o competene sar t fabric replacement originalf o s which surviv hexagone a detacheth n . e i wal s f S o e ha l. th E , dy fragmentsba e th n I . blocked round-headed door decorated with small tablet flowers. Buttresses at the . wal medievalS e e ar l th . windo tracerE n e o e . walTh d .E th anglewf e an lyo th f so is probabl n authentiya c copy. Burn slapped three lights throug. wallN e , th h hitherto without fenestration e interioe plasterechurcw Th th .no f o s d ri h an d covered by a timber barrel ceiling: no ancient features are visible. Excavatio churce th f o n 196h i . nN 2 reveale dfragmena footinge th a f r o t fo s N. sacristy, adjoining the church and contemporary with it. One of Skene's drawings roof-ragglw showlo e sacristye th th s f o e , enclosin a gblocke d doorway. These features were visible until 1962. The original northward extent of the sacristy cannot be defined. The remains of the sacristy were hidden in 1962 by the construction of a new vestry. Excavatio n 1961-ni 2 also showe base responda dth f eo plinte th , whicf ho h adjoine. anglNE ee buttresdth presene th f so t church responde Th . , wit frage hth - mentary structural remains around it, seemed to be the eastern termination for an aisle on the N. side of a nave of about the same width as the present church. The same th epresenn e o axe th t s sa ou tt churchse respont mouldinge no s Th . dwa f so the respond were similar to, but not identical with, the mouldings of the base of the centra lowee l pieth f rro hexagon, suggestin gsimilaa rsecone datth n ei d e halth f fo fifteenth century. relationshie Th . angl respone NE eth e buttresf pth o o dt s showed tha respone tth d was constructed afte buttresse th r foundatioe th , whicf no d bee t awahha ncu o yt buttressee th mak s A econtemporare . roosar it r mfo y wit presene hth t churce hth respon therefors di e later tha churche nth . (Althoug buttressee hth ashlaf o d e srar an the ancien e churct parf rubbleth o f o s thi footing e th , s show that the e conyar - temporary.) The only other architectural feature without any obvious structural relevance to eithe presenthe r t churchexagothe hor thnis e bassmala eof l fragmen inneof t r wall-face, projecting fro externae e hexagon . mwalth th f NE e o l e lTh .th fac f o e shaft-base has the same moulding as the upper part of the respond found by exca- vatio described nan d above shaft-base Th . fragmend an e wall-facf o t workee ear d frostonee mon , whichexagone t int wale th se oth f s he o i ashlal Th . e r th fac f o e 1 Skene, James Chapeld t Restlerig,Ol ,a Edinburgh City Library PYDA/24O6/227I, reproduceL P s da XXXVIII; compare PI. XXXIX. I , KING'S CHAPEL, RESTALRI TRIDUANA'T S D GAN 9 s 24 AISLE hexagon is roughly cut away to receive it. The moulding of the shaft-base is stopped on the oblique line at which the hexagon's wall-face cuts across the stone. Its relationshi hexagoe th o pt n wall shows insertethas i t i t d int hexagone oth . resemblance Th shaft-base presen. angle th th f responf e eNW eo o th e t o th et t da church, and the incomplete nature of both, suggest that the two belong to a fabric later tha hexagoe presene nth th d tnan church fabria , c ambitiously begun (though perhaps inaccuratel t outabandoned yse an ) earliese th n di t stage constructionf so . The shaft-base occupies the position of the outer wall of a S. aisle for this proposed building. The latter was designed to have a nave and aisles of unknown westward extent and a chancel of unknown plan. The hexagon adjoins the westernmost bay of the present church (figs, i and 2; PI. XXXIX e loweTh . r chamber2) , . belofloos ft it , 8 rw present ground levels i , intact. The chamber measures internally 35 ft. across between its opposite angles withi. thicin 6 k . n excep. wal ft wallN 3 e l whicsal th t . thick onls he in i 9 yTh . ft i S., SE. and NE. walls are pierced by windows of three pointed and cusped lights beneath three-centred arches (an arch form very uncommon in Scotland) externally surmounted by moulded dripstones. The splayed outer sills of the windows open to present ground levelloweThe . r chambe entereis r d fro churchyarmthe d through doorwaa . wallfligh a obliquelt y stepf se SW b , o te sth whicn yi h continues beyond wale th l faces upwards int churchyare oth downwardd dan s intflooe oth r aref ao the lower chamber. The floor of the church is 8 ft. 6 in. higher than the 1907 paved floor of the lower chamber. There is only one original buttress, at the NE. Three additional buttresses were buil 1907anglesn o ti Tw . , obstructe buriay db l enclosure 1907n si , hav buttresseo en s (see p. 256 below). These two angles, at the W. and SW., are finished by a broad ashlar chamfer. A near-straight joint runs down most of the height of the building chamfer, e .