The Cathedral of St Andrew (often referred to as St Andrews Cathedral) is a ruined cathedral in

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fou ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

, Scotland. It was built in 1158 and became the centre of the Medieval Catholic Church in Scotland as the seat of the

Archdiocese of St Andrews The Archdiocese of St Andrews (originally the Diocese of St Andrews) was a territorial episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in early modern and medieval Scotland. It was the largest, most populous and wealthiest diocese of the mediev ...

and the Bishops and Archbishops of St Andrews. It fell into disuse and ruin after Catholic mass was outlawed during the 16th-century Scottish Reformation. It is currently a monument in the custody of Historic Environment Scotland. The ruins indicate that the building was approximately long, and is the largest church to have been built in Scotland.

History

Founding and development

The cathedral was founded to supply more accommodation than the older church of St. Regulus (St. Rule) afforded. This older church, located on what became the cathedral grounds, had been built in the Romanesque style. Today, there remains the square tower, 33 metres (108 feet) high, and the quire, of very diminutive proportions. On a plan of the town from about 1531, a chancel appears, and seals affixed to the city and college charters bear representations of other buildings attached. To the east is an even older religious site, the

Church of St Mary on the Rock The Church of St Mary on the Rock or St Mary's Collegiate Church, was a secular college of priests based on the seaward side of St Andrews Cathedral, St Andrews, just beyond the precinct walls. It is known by a variety of other names, such as St ...

, the Culdee house that became a Collegiate Church. Work began on the new cathedral in 1158 and continued for over a century. The west end was blown down in a storm and rebuilt between 1272 and 1279. The cathedral was finally completed in 1318 and featured a central tower and six turrets; of these remain two at the east and one of the two at the western extremity, rising to a height of 30 metres (100 feet). On the 5th of July it was consecrated in the presence of King Robert the Bruce, who, according to legend, rode up the aisle on his horse. A fire partly destroyed the building in 1378; restoration and further embellishment were completed in 1440. The cathedral was served by a community of Augustinian Canons, the

St Andrews Cathedral Priory St Andrews Cathedral Priory was a priory of Augustinian canons in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. It was one of the great religious houses in Scotland, and instrumental in the founding of the University of St Andrews. History Plans were made for it ...

, which were successors to the Culdees of the Celtic church. Greyfriar ( Franciscan) and Blackfriar ( Dominican) friars had properties in the town by the late 15th century and possibly as late as 1518.

Abandonment and ruin

Archway over main west door, St Andrews Cathedral

In June 1559 during the Reformation, a Protestant mob incited by the preaching of

John Knox John Knox ( gd, Iain Cnocc) (born – 24 November 1572) was a Scottish minister, Reformed theologian, and writer who was a leader of the country's Reformation. He was the founder of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Born in Giffordgat ...

ransacked the cathedral; the interior of the building was destroyed. The cathedral fell into decline following the attack and became a source of building material for the town. By 1561 it had been abandoned and left to fall into ruin. At about the end of the sixteenth century the central tower apparently gave way, carrying with it the north wall. Afterwards large portions of the ruins were taken away for building purposes, and nothing was done to preserve them until 1826. Since then it has been tended with scrupulous care, an interesting feature being the cutting out of the ground-plan in the turf. The principal portions extant, partly Norman and partly Early Scottish, are the east and west gables, the greater part of the south wall of the nave and the west wall of the south transept. At the end of the seventeenth century some of the priory buildings remained entire and considerable remains of others existed, but nearly all traces have now disappeared except portions of the priory wall and the archways, known as ''The Pends''.

St Rule's Tower

The Eastern Cemetery, St Andrews, looking south to the bay

St Rule's tower is located in the cathedral grounds but predates it, having served as the church of the priory up to the early 12th century. The building was retained to allow worship to continue uninterrupted during the building of its much larger successor. Originally, the tower and adjoining choir were part of the church built in the 11th century to house the relics of St Andrew. The nave, with twin western turrets, and the apse of the church no longer stand. The church's original appearance is illustrated in stylised form on some of the early seals of the cathedral priory. Legend credits St Rule (also known as St Regulus) with bringing relics of St Andrew to the area from their original location at

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in Greece. Today the tower commands an admirable view of the town, harbour, sea, and surrounding countryside. Built in grey sandstone

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

, and (for its date) immensely tall (33 m), it is a land- and sea-mark seen from many miles away, its prominence doubtless meant to guide pilgrims to the place of the Apostle's relics. In the Middle Ages a spire atop the tower made it even more prominent. The tower was originally ascended using ladders between wooden floors, but a stone spiral staircase was inserted in the 18th century.

Burials

In the cathedral

* Roger de Beaumont (bishop) (d. 1202) * William Wishart (d. 1279) * William de Lamberton (1328, on the north side of the high altar) * William Fraser (bishop of St Andrews) (1297, his heart was buried in the wall of the church by his successor, William de Lamberton) * William de Landallis (1385, in the church's vestry) *

James Kennedy (bishop) James Kennedy ( gd, Seumas Ceanadach) (c. 1408–1465) was a 15th-century Bishop of Dunkeld and Bishop of St. Andrews, who participated in the Council of Florence and was the last man to govern the diocese of St. Andrews purely as bishop. One ...

(1465, in a magnificent tomb which he had caused to be built in St Salvator's Chapel, the ruins of which are still visible) * Andrew Forman (d. 1521)

Cathedral burial ground

* Very Rev John Adamson DD * John Anderson, Principal of St Leonards College * Rev Alexander Anderson (1676-1737) son of above * Rev Prof George Buist DD * Robert Chambers * Rev Prof George Cook DD

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

* Rev Prof John Cook DD

* Rev Prof William Crawford DD father of

Thomas Jackson Crawford Thomas Jackson Crawford (1812–1875) was a Scottish minister and professor of divinity at the University of Edinburgh. He served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1867, the highest level within the Scottish chur ...

* Sir Robert Anstruther Dalyell * Prof James Donaldson (classical scholar) * Adam Ferguson * Andrew Forman * Rev Prof James Gillespie * Rev Prof Thomas Gillespie, Professor of Humanity * Robert Haldane (mathematician) *

Thomas Halyburton Rev Prof Thomas Halyburton (25 December 167423 September 1712) was a Scottish divine. Thomas was educated there at Erasmus's school, in Rotterdam, where his mother had taken him to avoid persecution. He returned to Scotland in 1682, graduated at ...

Matthew Forster Heddle Matthew Forster Heddle FRSE (28 April 1828 – 19 November 1897) was a Scottish physician and amateur mineralogist active through the 19th century. Life He was born at Melsetter in Orkney, the son of Robert Heddle (1780–1842) and his wif ...

* George Hill (minister) * Prof Henry David Hill * Rev Prof James Hunter * Prof Thomas Jackson

* David Miller Kay, military hero, author and missionary * Prof Peter Redford Scott Lang, mathematician * Rev Prof John McGill LLD, translator of the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

Norman MacLeod (The Wicked Man) Norman MacLeod, 1st Lord MacLeod (Scottish Gaelic: ''Tormod MacLeòid'') (1705–1772), also known in his own time and within clan tradition as The Wicked Man (Scottish Gaelic: ''An Droch Dhuine''), was an 18th-century Scottish politician and t ...

* Young Tom Morris * Old Tom Morris *

William Henry Murray William Henry Wood Murray (1790–1852), a Scottish actor, manager and theatre owner in Edinburgh, was a friend of Walter Scott and particularly associated with dramatisations of Scott's Waverley Novels. Life Born in Bath on 26 August 1790, h ...

* Rev Francis Nicoll DD Principal of St Salvator's College, St Andrews * Hugh Lyon Playfair * Rev James Playfair (minister) (memorial only) * Lt Col Sir Robert Lambert Playfair LLD, soldier and author * Prof

Alexander Roberts Alexander Roberts (12 May 1826 – 8 March 1901) was a 19th-century Scottish biblical scholar. Life Born at Marykirk, Kincardineshire, on 12 May 1826, he was the son of Alexander Roberts, a flax-spinner, and his wife, Helen Stuart. He was edu ...

* Allan Robertson * Rev Professor Daniel Robertson DD (1755-1817) * Rev Prof

Samuel Rutherford Samuel Rutherford (also Rutherfurd or Rutherfoord; – 29 March 1661) was a Scottish Presbyterian pastor and theologian who wrote widely read letters, sermons, devotional and scholastic works. As a political theorist, he is known for "L ...

Saint Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Peter ...

(partial remains) * Very Rev Robert Small (1732-1808) Moderator in 1791 * William Spalding (writer) * Very Rev Prof Alexander Stewart DD Principal of St Andrews University in 1915,

Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the ministers and elders of the Church of Scotland, minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week i ...

in 1911 * Rev Prof John Trotter * Alexander Watson, Provost of St Andrews * Major John and Lady Catherine

Whyte-Melville George John Whyte-Melville (19 June 1821 – 5 December 1878) was a Scottish novelist much concerned with field sports, and also a poet. He took a break in the mid-1850s to serve as an officer of Turkish irregular cavalry in the Crimean War. ...

(the large monument in the far corner of the churchyard) * Prof William Wright (orientalist)

Eastern Cemetery

* Col Robert Hope Moncrieff Aitken, Victoria Cross recipient *Fr George Angus, first Roman Catholic priest in St. Andrews since the Reformation *

Warington Baden-Powell Henry Warington Smyth Baden-Powell KC (3 February 1847 – 24 April 1921), known as Warington, was a British admiralty lawyer, master mariner and canoeist. He wrote a book on Sea Scouting and held positions in The Boy Scouts Association, forme ...

founder of the Sea Scouts * Wilhelmina Barns-Graham * Prof John Birrell *

Andrew Kennedy Hutchison Boyd Andrew Kennedy Hutchison Boyd (3 November 1825 – 1 March 1899), miscellaneous writer, son of Rev. Dr. Boyd of Glasgow, was originally intended for the English Bar but entered the Church of Scotland, and was minister latterly at St. Andrews ...

* Sir Napier Burnett * Sir Guy Colin Campbell *

Reginald Fairlie Reginald Francis Joseph Fairlie LLD (7 March 1883 – 27 October 1952) was a Scottish architect. He served as a commissioner of RCAHMS and on the Ancient Monuments Board for Scotland. Life see Born at Kincaple, Fife, he was the son of J. Ogi ...

* William Lewis Ferdinand Fischer, FRS * James Ross Gillespie, architect * Sir

James Heriot-Maitland Major-General Sir James Makgill Heriot-Maitland, (14 June 1837 – 27 August 1902)‘HERIOT-MAITLAND, Sir James Makgill’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 201 ...

* Sir John Home * Andrew Kirkaldy (golfer) * Vice-Admiral Dashwood Fowler Moir, famed for his actions in the

Battle of Jutland The Battle of Jutland (german: Skagerrakschlacht, the Battle of the Skagerrak) was a naval battle fought between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy ...

and who lost his life protecting the Atlantic Convoy * Charles Metcalfe Ochterlony, 2nd baronet Ochterlony * James Bell Pettigrew *

Lyon Playfair, Baron Playfair Lyon Playfair, 1st Baron Playfair (1 May 1818 – 29 May 1898) was a British scientist and Liberal politician who was Postmaster-General from 1873 to 1874. Early life Playfair was born at Chunar, Bengal, the son of George Playfair (1782-1846) ...

* William Smoult Playfair * Prof

Thomas Purdie Thomas Purdie FRS LLD (1843–1916) was a 19th/20th century Scottish chemist. With James Irvine, Purdie is known for his work on understanding the chemical structure of simple sugars. The building that houses the School of Chemistry (that he he ...

FRS * Andrew Maitland Ramsay LLD

* Prof David George Ritchie * Prof John Tulloch * Charles Wordsworth

References

External links

*
La Catedral de San Andrés, Escocia [Saint Andrews Cathedral, Scotland]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Andrews Cathedral Buildings and structures completed in 1318 12th-century church buildings in Scotland Listed monasteries in Scotland St. Andrew, St. Andrews Listed cathedrals in Scotland Churches in Fife St Andrews Romanesque architecture in Scotland Museums in Fife Former Roman Catholic churches in Scotland Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Fife Religious museums in Scotland Category A listed buildings in Fife 1158 establishments in Scotland Ruins in Fife 1561 disestablishments in Scotland