Publication Account

Date 1997

Event ID 1019165

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Publication Account

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1019165

The tower of the cathedral is the oldest extant building in Dunblane, standing parallel with the nave and half in, half out, of the aisle of the cathedral. Evidently, when an older church was demolished, its almost certainly free-standing Romanesque belfry-tower was incorporated within the fabric of the new cathedral. It is possible that the lower four storeys of the cathedral tower, constructed from local stone, may have served as a place of defence as well as a place of worship for Culdees before the reorganisation of the diocese in the twelfth century. The upper portion of the tower is distinctively early sixteenth century in date and is noteworthy for the round projections of the parapet at the corners, clearly derived from castles.

The cathedral consists of a nave figure 10 with aisles of eight bays, an aisleless choir of six bays, with a chapel on the north and, prior to the Reformation, at least seven altars. The great west door is remarkable for the fourteen shafts in either jamb. Above this doorway are three large windows of equal size; and over them in the gable is a small oval leaf-shaped window, admired by John Ruskin.

The earliest existing portion of the cathedral, after the tower, is the chapel on the north side of the choir. This perhaps functioned as both chapter house and Lady Chapel and is a small and relatively plain building with five bays. The eastern portion of the cathedral was relatively well maintained during the post-Reformation period and the choir functioned as the parish church, rather than the nave, as had been the practice. After the Reform action, the roof of the nave of the cathedral collapsed and a large part of the building became ruinous. This state of disrepair was not uncommon in the post-Reformation period because much of the wealth of the medieval church had passed into secular hands. A roof-raggle on the east face of the tower is probably an indicator of an external porch over the south doorway of the cathedral. Another raggle is visible on the west side of the tower and may represent a structure extending into the kirkyard.

The cathedral only narrowly escaped the threat of demolition to make way for the railway. It was restored in the late nineteenth century and is now maintained by the Friends of Dunblane Cathedral. The cathedral is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and, therefore, any development here would require the consent of the Secretary of State of Scotland. Major development here is unlikely, but environmental improvements and the insertion of new services, both within the standing building and in the kirkyard area, will almost certainly disturb archaeology.

Over the last two centuries, improvements inside the cathedral have brought to light a number of important discoveries. In 1873, the floor-levels of the choir and chapter house were reduced, and in 1889-93 a sub-floor chamber was excavated for a new central heating system in the Lady Chapel. At a depth of 0.61m, two sculptured stones were found, dateable to the ninth, tenth or eleventh centuries. A stone coffin containing two disturbed skeletons was also found during groundworks in the choir. Any further groundworks may expose earlier phases of the cathedral and, perhaps, remains of an earlier church. Burials almost certainly survive, preserved beneath the present floor surface. Camden's Britannia, first published in 1586, describes the nave as being 'full of modern gravestones', and Bronze Age cists have been recovered from the north and north-west ends of the cathedral.

Information from ‘Historic Dunblane: The Archaeological Implications of Development’ (1997).