Publication Account
Date 1987
Event ID 1016896
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016896
Inchcolm housed a religious community long before the establishment of a monastery in the early 12th century. The early inhabitants were hermits devoted to the guardianship of a holy place whose reputation for sanctity stemmed from its links with St Colm, identified with St Columba, the 6th century abbot of Iona. The hermits probably lived in the simple stone cell which survives to the west of the medieval monastery but in an apparently 14th or 15th century restored form. On a knoll beyond the cell there is a fine, though weathered, example of a hogback tombstone; four rows of tegulae, or roof-tiles, are carved along the sides and a great beast's head adorns either end. Dating to the mid 10th century, this is probably the earliest hogback to survive in Scotland.
The Inchcolm hermitage received regal recognition in 1123 when Alexander I and some of his courtiers were storm-bound on the island for three days. During this enforced visit the hermit sheltered them and shared his scanty provisions. Alexander made plans to establish a monastic settlement but these were interrupted by the King's death the following year. It is not known when the first Augustinian canons settled there but the earliest surviving charter relating to the monastery dates from about 1162-9. The mid 13th century saw a period of relative prosperity although it did come under periodic attack during the Wars of Independence. After the Reformation, no new canons were admitted and the last document relating to the monastery dates to 1578. The isolated position of the island is largely responsible for the fine state of preservation of the buildings.
Inchcolm creates in the mind of the visitor an unusually clear and vivid impression of monastic life, despite the fact that the surviving structures belong to several periods of building and modification. The polygonal chapter-house was built in the 13th century and represents a design fashionable in England but used only three times in Scotland (another example may be seen at Elgin, Moray, and the third was at Holyrood in Edinburgh but no longer exists). It has a fine ribbed and vaulted ceiling, and the stone seating for the monks still lines the walls. The chapter-house is incorporated into one side of a 14th century cloister, with its open court, covered cloister walk and seats for the monks in the window recesses in which they worked. The upper floor contains their living quarters, including a warming house with a fireplace over the chapter-house. The church has undergone much rebuilding and enlargement since its foundation in the 12th century. A rare feature is the fragment of 13th century wall-painting with clerical figures outlined in black, red and yellow, preserved by having been sealed behind masonry during a later extension of the church.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Fife and Tayside’, (1987).
