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Dumfries, St Christopher's Chapel

Chapel (14th Century)

Site Name Dumfries, St Christopher's Chapel

Classification Chapel (14th Century)

Alternative Name(s) Chapel Of The Holy Rood; The Chrystal Chapel

Canmore ID 65540

Site Number NX97NE 17

NGR NX 9756 7628

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/65540

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
Canmore Disclaimer. © Copyright and database right 2024.

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Administrative Areas

  • Council Dumfries And Galloway
  • Parish Dumfries
  • Former Region Dumfries And Galloway
  • Former District Nithsdale
  • Former County Dumfries-shire

Archaeology Notes

NX97NE 17 9756 7628.

(NX 9756 7628) Site of Christie's Chapel (NR) (14th Century)

OS 1:1056 map (1852)

One of the most notable chapels in Dumfries was the Chapel of the Holy Rood, also known as St Christopher's Chapel or the Chrystal Chapel. It was founded by Robert Bruce on the spot of the execution of his brother-in-law, who was so penalised for his part in the Comyn murder. (The O N B states that it was built by Bruce's sister in 1324). Stones from that chapel were used in strengthening the town's defences in 1715. St Mary's Church was built on the site in 1837, at which time "traces of rough foundation" were found by the workmen; "from what was seen it only proves that the chapel or oratory must have been very small indeed," according to a newspaper report.

Name Book 1850; R Edgar 1915; J Starke 1864; SBS Dumfries 1977.

Three fragments, showing ecclesiastical detail, probably from the ruins of St Christopher's Chapel, are in a rockery in the back garden of a villa, St Christopher's, in St Mary Street (see NX97NE 727). They were part of a collection formed by the late James Barbour.

RCAHMS 1920, visited 1915

Activities

Online Gallery (1306 - 1329)

The year 2014 sees the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn, in which the army of Robert I of Scotland defeated that of Edward II of England. The battle marked a major turning point in the long, drawn-out struggle of the Wars of Independence.

The Wars have had a lasting influence upon all the nations of the United Kingdom and upon the national story. Each age has seen fit to commemorate the events in its own way: through the perpetuation of the genuine historical associations of buildings and places and also through the endowment of others with improbable or fanciful traditions. Where past generations allowed its historic buildings to decay and disappear, later generations began to value and actively preserve these for their associations. Where an event lacked a tangible reminder, as at Kinghorn where Alexander III was killed in a riding accident, a commemorative monument would be erected to act as a focus. The Wars of Independence predate the fashion for accurate portraiture: the weathered, generic military effigy of Sir James Douglas is one of the few to survive in Scotland. Later centuries saw a need and supplied it by a crowd of images of its historic heroes, William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, each depicted according to contemporary taste and imagination. The opening of the new heritage centre at Bannockburn takes this into a new dimension, through the use of three-dimensional, digital technology.

RCAHMS Collections hold many images of these buildings and locations from battlefields, castles and churches, to the many commemorative monuments erected in later years. This gallery highlights a selection of these, including antiquarian sketches, photographic and drawn surveys, and architectural designs.

Publication Account (1977)

One of the most notable of all Dumfries' chapels was the Chapel of the Holy Rood, also known as St. Christopher's Chapel or the Chrystal Chapel, located on the road to Annandale where St. Mary's Church now stands. It was founded by Robert Bruce on the spot of the execution of his brother-in-law, who was so penalised for his part in the Comyn murders (Reid, 1915, 116). Stones from that chapel were used in strengthening the town's defences during the 1715 rebellion (Starke, 1863-4, 41). When workmen were building St. Mary's Church in 1837 a newspaper report related 'traces of rough foundation were lighted upon by the workmen' but 'from what was seen it only proves that the chapel or oratory must have been very small indeed' (Starke, 1863-4, 44).

Information from ‘Historic Dumfries: The Archaeological Implications of Development’ (1977).

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