Elgin Cathedral

Elgin Cathedral
Morayshire
Elgin Cathedral
Type:	Former cathedral
Location
Grid reference:	NJ22186304
Location:	57°39’2"N, 3°18’20"W
Town:	Elgin
History
	Built 1224
	Former cathedral
	Gothic
Information
Condition:	Ruin
Owned by:	Historic Scotland
Website:	Elgin Cathedral

Elgin Cathedral stands in ruin, but a yet impressive ruin, in Elgin in Morayshire. In its day, this was the cathedral of the Diocese of Moray.

The cathedral was established in 1224 on land granted by King Alexander II outside the burgh of Elgin and close to the River Lossie, replacing the cathedral at Spynie, two miles to the north. It was abandoned at the Reformation and thereafter declined into the state in which its stands today. It is now in the care of Historic Environment Scotland.

History

The Cathedral was built in Elgin in 1224. It suffered a damaging fire in 1270, requiring a rebuilding programme which greatly enlarged the building.

The cathedral was unaffected by the wars which rent Scotland in the thirteenth century but it suffered more extensive fire damage in 1390 following an attack by Robert III's brother Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan, also known as the Wolf of Badenoch. In 1402 the cathedral precinct again suffered an incendiary attack by the followers of the Lord of the Isles.

The cathedral went through periods of enlargement and renovation following the fires of 1270 and 1390 that included the doubling in length of the choir, the provision of outer aisles to the northern and southern walls of both the nave and choir.

In 1560 the Reformation swept Scotland. The cathedral was abandoned and its services transferred to Elgin's parish church of St Giles. The next year the building was scoured for popish trappings, which were removed and destroyed. In 1567, the roof lead and bells were removed for sale by order of parliament, and the cathedral fell steadily into decay.

In 1615, John Taylor, the 'Water Poet', described Elgin Cathedral as "a faire and beautiful church with three steeples, the walls of it and the steeples all yet standing; but the roofes, windowes and many marble monuments and tombes of honourable and worthie personages all broken and defaced".

While the building was still largely intact in 1615, the winter of 1637 saw a storm which brought the roof covering the eastern limb down. In the spring of 1711, the central steeple above the crossing collapsed taking the walls of the nave with it.

Ownership was transferred from the Kirk to the Crown in 1689 but that made no difference to the building's continuing deterioration. Only in the early years of the 19th Century did the Crown begin the conservation process: in 1824 the Crown funded the roofing of the chapterhouse supervised by Robert Reid, and between 1824 and 1826, John Shanks, a cobbler of Elgin, shifts '2,853 cubic yards of rubbish' from cathedral. Work to stabilise the structure proceeded through until the end of the 20th Century with the large scale improvements to the two western towers.

The Cathedral today

Today, these walls are at full height in places and at foundation level in others yet the overall cruciform shape is still discernible. A mostly intact octagonal chapter house dates from the major enlargement after the fire of 1270.

The gable wall above the double door entrance that links the west towers is nearly complete and was rebuilt following the fire of 1390. It accommodates a large window opening that now only contains stub tracery work and fragments of a large rose window.

Recessed and chest tombs in both transepts and in the south aisle of the choir contain effigies of bishops and knights, and large flat slabs in the now grass-covered floor of the cathedral mark the positions of early graves. The homes of the dignitaries and canons, or manses, stood in the chanonry and were destroyed by fire on three occasions: in 1270, 1390 and 1402. The two towers of the west front are mostly complete and were part of the first phase of construction. Only the precentor's manse is substantially intact; two others have been incorporated into private buildings. A protective wall of massive proportions surrounded the cathedral precinct, but only a small section has survived. The wall had four access gates, one of which—the Pans Port—still exists.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Elgin Cathedral)

• Elgin Cathedral - scheduled monument detail (Historic Environment Scotland)
• Firth's Celtic Scotland
• Engraving of Elgin Cathedral in 1693 by John Slezer at National Library of Scotland

References

• Elgin Cathedral - scheduled monument detail (Historic Environment Scotland)
• Butler, Dugald (2007). Scottish Cathedrals and Abbeys. BiblioLife. ISBN 978-1-110-89589-2. 
• Byatt, Mary (2005). Elgin: A History and Celebration of the Town. New York: Ottakers. ISBN 978-0-8337-0384-2. 
• Cant, Ronald Gordon. (1974). Historic Elgin and its cathedral. Elgin: Elgin Society. ISBN 978-0-9504028-0-2. 
• Cramond, William (1908). The Records of Elgin. Aberdeen: New Spalding Club. 
• Dalyell, John G. (1826). Records of the Bishopric of Moray. Edinburgh. 
• Fawcett, Richard (2001). Elgin Cathedral. Edinburgh: Historic Scotland. ISBN 978-1-903570-24-1. 
• Fawcett, Richard (1999). Elgin Cathedral: Official Guide. Edinburgh: Historic Scotland. ISBN 978-1-900168-65-6. 
• Fawcett, Richard; Oram, Richard (2014). Elgin Cathedral and the Diocese of Moray. Historic Scotland. ISBN 978-1-84917-173-1. 
• Grant, Alexander (1993). The Wolf of Badenoch. Edinburgh: Scottish Society for Northern Studies. ISBN 978-0-9505994-7-2. 
• Johnson, Samuel (1996). A Journey to the Western Isles of Scotland. Edinburgh. ISBN 978-1-85715-253-1. 
• Innes, Cosmo (1837). Registrum Episcopatus Moraviensis (1 ed.). Edinburgh: The Ballantyne Club. 
• Mackintosh, Herbert B. (1914). Elgin Past and Present. Elgin: J.D. Yeadon. 
• Watt, D. E. R. (2003). Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae medii aevi ad annum 1638. Edinburgh: Scottish Record Society. ISBN 978-0-902054-19-6. 
• Young, Robert (1879). Annals of the Parish and Burgh of Elgin. Elgin. 

Books

• Clark, W:. 'A series of Views of the Ruins of Elgin Cathedral' (1826)
• Crook, J. & Mordant & Port, M H.: 'The History of the King's Works' (1973)
• Simpson, A. T. & Stevenson, S.: 'Historic Elgin, the archaeological implications of development' (University of Glasgow Dept. of Archaeology, 1982)