St Drostan's Parish Church Geophysical Survey and Building Survey
Date 1 January 2014 - 30 October 2014
Event ID 1013323
Category Project
Type Project
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1013323
NO 29736 01965 (NO20SE 13) A programme of work undertaken, 1 January – 30 October 2014, formed year three of a four year project which aims to measure, record and interprete all traces of existing and former church buildings on the site.
Years one and two were confined to manuscript research, photography and measurement of the existing building and the surrounding graveyard. This included a resistivity survey, which confirmed the presence of an elliptical bank and ditch feature surrounding the church and possibly predating it. The tower and part of the W nave wall of the Romanesque style building remain in reasonable condition, and show the exceptionally high quality of design and construction. The building was described as a ‘moustier’ or minster by a chronicler of King Edward I when he passed down the old pilgrim way from St Andrews to Dunfermline in 1296. It had by then passed from the control of the MacDuffs to the Priory of St Andrews.
A ground penetrating radar survey under the existing church floor confirmed the outline of a nave and chancel with a substantial anomaly buried beneath the area where it is assumed the chancel arch was located. The measured footprint of the foundation trench matched external observations of remaining 12th-century corner features at the E and W ends of the existing building. A good cross section of the 12th-century nave and subsequent alterations was obtained from raggle lines on the E side of the tower and from still visible thackstone inserts on the tower itself. On the basis of this evidence, plans, cross sections and 3D models of the church and tower have been drawn showing how the building developed from the 12th century onward. These have been considerably assisted by a concurrent RCAHMS survey of the building employing additional and laser based surveying techniques. Detailed results for years one and two have been written up in a progress report.
In year three we took the opportunity afforded by repair work to the tower to investigate 12th-century features hidden beneath 19/20th-century plaster and a rotting timber ceiling. In the process we have uncovered a previously hidden blocked doorway to the spiral stair, a large double voussoir arch between the tower and nave, and what we interpret to be socket holes for the tread wheel used to raise blocks during construction. The plaster removal has also enabled us to secure a full set of masons’ or banker marks from all levels of the tower. Panel removal within the church gallery has revealed a ‘cross pattée’ inscribed on the topmost voussoir of the arch facing into the nave. Otherwise the arch voussoirs appear to be unadorned and unstepped. The tower arch measures 3.95m high from the floor of the nave to the soffit and is 2.01m wide and >1m in depth. Any decoration that the arch imposts might have had on the W side was found to have been removed during previous renovations, but a clear profile was obtained from marks on the S wall. The E side of the arch remains covered by modern plaster work. Within the tower post-12th-century dowels from wooden dado panelling have also been uncovered along with red staining applied directly to the stone after the panels had been removed. Plaster samples have been taken for analysis if funds permit. Loose finds from the NE part of the graveyard adjacent to the church included an arch hood-moulding with a chip-carved saltire motif. This matches a set of three recycled blocks already observed embedded in the 17/18th-century S wall.
The diameter is calculated to be c7m, slightly less than the estimated width of the 12th-century nave. These are now being interpreted as part of a substantial chancel arch. What appear to be recycled plain voussoirs have been identified embedded in the S wall. These may have underpinned the hood-moulding with the arch embedded in the nave walls in a fashion similar to the tower arch. It may have been related to an engaged foliate capital that was recycled in the fabric of the nearby Session House in the 1870s, but is now much worn. Dating of the building is proving to be difficult and the most recent report examines the possibility of an early 12th-century date alongside the currently accepted mid-12th-century date.
Mortar samples with both charcoal and limestone lumps have been taken from inside the 12th-century wall. It is hoped to excavate close to the walls in year three and to focus desk research on comparison with similar buildings in the northern part of the British Isles.
One of the key finds to date is a chip-carved hood-moulding of an arch with a double row of saltires and quirked beading, which was found in a formerly fenced off part of the graveyard. The design was common in late 11th- and early 12th-century buildings throughout Europe. It can also be interpreted as a row of intersecting lozenges and crosses. The find location was once the fenced-off burial plot of the church’s principal heritors, the Balfour family. It was found adjacent to the church near the NE wall, facing in to the wall. The stone matches three others embedded in the S wall, which had been reused when the church was rebuilt in the 17th or 18th centuries. Although finely carved on the face, it is roughly hewn on the upper and lower surfaces and has a peg hole. A template of the design and curvature was made and measured to be c7m in diameter, slightly less than the estimated width of the nave. It is currently being interpreted as a segment of the chancel arch.
Archive: RCAHMS (intended). Reports: Hunter Archaeological Trust
Funder: Hunter Archaeological and Historical Trust, Heritage Lottery Fund and Fife Council
Bruce Manson, Neil Sutherland and Maureen Brand – Markinch Heritage Group (Source: DES)
