General view before restoration.

Description General view before restoration.

Date 1895

Collection Papers of Erskine Beveridge, antiquarian, Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland

Catalogue Number SC 743228

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of AG 1693

Scope and Content Iona Abbey Church, Argyll & Bute, before restoration (now restored) Iona Abbey, a medieval abbey begun c.1200 by Benedictine monks who had established themselves on the island, was built on the site of a 6th-century monastic community founded by St Columba. Described as being the most dramatic ecclesiastical building in the west of Scotland, the abbey underwent several periods of remodelling and enlargement before being abandoned after the Reformation. It was in a semi-ruinous state in the last decade of the 19th century when it was photographed by the Victorian photographer, Erskine Beveridge, but by 1904 a programme of restoration began that was largely complete by 1965. The abbey church is basically cruciform (cross-shaped) in plan, with a 15th-century square tower built over the crossing of nave (left) and transepts. The south transept (right), dating from the 15th century, and nave are roofless, but the marks where their roof planes adjoined the flat faces of the tower can be seen clearly. The three-light window, set in a hooded pointed-arch opening in the gable of the south transept, has restored tracery dating from 1875. Iona, a small island lying off the west tip of the Ross of Mull, has played an important role in the religious life of Scotland by its association with St Columba, an abbot and missionary who brought Christianity from Ireland in the 6th century. Columba, along with 12 companions, settled on the island, establishing a monastery and making extensive journeys on to the mainland to preach among the Picts. He died on Iona in 597, and the island has remained an important place of pilgrimage and Christian learning throughout the centuries. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap