Guest Blog – Scotland’s Churches AD 1000-1600 with Adam Cumming FSAScot
I
have been passionate about mediaeval churches since
childhood, particularly those in Scotland. I have
been lucky enough in my professional life to be able
to visit countries across Europe – and European
colleagues have helped me see many amazing sites,
some of which are not on the usual tourist routes.
This has helped me view Scottish churches
differently, and to better understand how they fit
in a European context.
A Voyage of Discovery
Scotland has many medieval churches either intact or
partially so, but not all are well known and in
fact, there are only a few which appear in church
listings. Indeed, it is often assumed that there are
very few mediaeval churches remaining in Scotland.
This misconception is held by many architectural
historians and may arise because of the differences
(especially in their course of their religious
histories) between Scotland and England. These
buildings deserve better understanding and
appreciation for they’re a reflection of the course
of Scottish history.
Scottish history has its own detail, separate from
other British and European countries, and these
buildings and their contents are evidence of that.
It’s not just mediaeval churches; post reformation
religious buildings reflect the changing theology in
Scotland which produced different but equally valid
expressions.
European Influences
It is also usually assumed that mediaeval Scotland
took its architectural lead from England, but this
is not completely true, it has its own identity and
more importantly, Scotland had its own links across
Europe. Influences flowed across Europe with
connections and ideas that travelled freely in all
directions. These developed with time and responded
to politics and trade, with Scotland forming a
distinctive part of European culture.
As I learned more, I found that I needed to
understand the contexts in which mediaeval and
post-Reformation churches in Scotland and Europe
were built and operated. You need to consider the
history, music, heraldry contained in the buildings
and beyond – all the pieces that make up the jigsaw
of a country’s culture. I found it fascinating to
see how these all fitted together and were
represented in Scotland’s churches and the depth of
the picture it produced of Scotland from around
1000AD to 1600, and beyond
North Western European links
The ‘Celtic’ Scottish church (600-1000AD) was part
of the early church and was organised a little like
the Orthodox Christian church is now. It had close
links with Ireland of course and also Europe through
mission activity, which produced the
‘Schottenkloster’ (the German monasteries founded by
Irish and Scottish monks). They are illustrative of
how missionaries and others moved across the
Continent – it was far less static than was once
thought.
There is increasing evidence of these links
developing so that Scotland took part in the 11th
century European Reformation and Renaissance under
the ‘Margaretsons’ (the sons of Margaret and Malcolm
III). However, there were several older connections
– round towers reflect one ‘Celtic link’ though one
that possibly reflects political power. Why else are
the only Irish style towers in the east at Brechin
and Abernethy, below, in what is called Pictland?
By 1100 Scotland was heavily influenced by churches
on Ile de France, (St Denis, Chartres, Notre Dame,
Amiens, etc). This was true for most of Northern
Europe. Links with the Rhineland existed too. See
Kelso in the Scottish Borders and Mainz in western
Germany below with western transepts. Dunblane
Cathedral in central Scotland is an example of high
quality within a budget! The type of screen front at
Holyrood in Edinburgh also reflects similar examples
at Trondheim in Norway and Wells in England, a style
which may derive from Rouen.
“Some of these architectural styles made their way
to Scotland via England so that the church
proportions tended to be English. However, there
were more direct links with the Continent; it’s well
known that many Scots travelled to Europe in this
period, mostly to complete training for taking holy
orders. Bishop Kennedy for example, a 15th-century
Bishop of Dunkeld and Bishop of St. Andrews, was at
one time a student at the Sorbonne in Paris. Other
Scottish students also worked in Paris and the
School of Notre Dame musical books were used in St
Andrews (one survives – the St Andrews Choir book).
King David I (c. 1084 – 24 May 1153 r 1124-1153)
also brought some monastic orders to Scotland direct
from France (Tiron for example) and others from
England to vary his approach and establish a
separate Scottish religious/ecclesiastical identity.
Thirteenth and Fourteenth Century and Beyond
The Wars of Independence (1296 – 1329) also
strengthened Scotland’s existing direct European
links.
The Guardians of Scotland (the six men appointed to
help rule the kingdom in the absence of a king) made
an Alliance with France from 1296 and wrote to the
Hanseatic League (a medieval commercial and
defensive network of merchant guilds and market
towns in Central and Northern Europe) seeking to
reopen trade. There was trade with the Low
Countries, Scandinavia and also into the Baltic at
this time.
There was limited good contact with England,
however, and Scotland tended to do better when
England was self-absorbed. This absence of English
contact helped developed the continental influences
on Scotland’s culture including churches, which can
particularly be seen in music and education.
The Influence Flows Both Ways
Theology is one example with John Duns Scotus from
Duns in the Borders working and being buried in
Koln, Germany.
The Carver Choir book is a second example – where
this volume has music from England as well as the
Continent – Scotland seems much more aware of
developments in continental music than England was
at that time in the fifteenth century. Incidentally,
a performance of his music in a church of the same
age sounds better to me – the music and architecture
are matched, and one supports the other!
Similarly glass, woodwork and painting were brought
from the Low Countries and Northern European
Curvilinear Tracery is used with almost no
Perpendicular influence. Perpendicular is an almost
completely English local style.
Vaulting was used but mostly barrel vaults with or
without applied ribs though Tierceron vaults were
used where affordable, which maybe only have been
over the choir and there were very few more complex
vaults. See the vaults over the eastern extension of
St Giles in Edinburgh; the contemporary ones over
Trinity College Church in Edinburgh and compare with
the ribbed barrel vault over Ladykirk in
Berwickshire.
Finally, the shape of churches was much more like
those in northern and central Europe with three
sided apses, though the proportions remain British.
These plans can be seen in the Netherlands, Germany,
and across northern Europe as far as Transylvania!
The exteriors were harled as well.
Scotland is rich in historic churches. These are
part of European culture – having given to and
received from many places – but it is a shared
heritage, in which Scotland makes its own
contribution. And while much has been lost much
remains and should be celebrated.
It is very difficult to choose my favourite church.
I have several, some ruined such as Elgin Cathedral
or Melrose Abbey and some intact like Glasgow
Cathedral or St Mary’s Haddington, as well as
smaller churches such as Midcalder or Whitekirk.
They all have their beauties and their own
fascination and their own stories. I would encourage
you to visit them all!
My passion for churches led me to become a Fellow of
the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in 1988.
Fellowship is a way of getting and staying touch
with others with similar interests so is highly
recommended. My Fellowship also led to me being
invited by the Society to share my knowledge and
enthusiasm through an Online Fellows’ Meeting,
exclusive to other Fellows.
It also led me to become chair of
Scotland’s Churches Trust (SCT), which tries
firstly to make people aware of what exists, but
also now and very importantly to help preserve them
for the future. This includes recording the contents
as these represent the history of the local
communities and are fragile. We are trying to find
ways to for these places to continue to serve their
communities. New Friends of SCT are welcome!
By Adam Cumming FSAScot
