Category Archives: History

Bones in walls!

Archaeology, History,

During the archaeological dig in 2006 there were a number of places where bones were found either under a wall or built into a wall. One reason for this arises because the walls were built in what had been, up to that time, the graveyard – in other words the graves already existed and the wall was simply built on top.

E84 St Nicholas Site Week 28 Skeleton in wall - SK426 Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums Collections
Bones under the 15th century wall

The first two photographs show examples of this under the 15th century wall. The first photograph clearly shows how the wall was built on top of the burial. In the second photograph, there is also a bone higher up the wall.

 

 

Post 47 (b) bones DSCF0169 Bones in exterior (south) wall
Bones under and in 15th century wall

When the bones are built into the wall they would have been placed there deliberately when building was taking place. Any soil disturbance in the graveyard could disturb existing burials. So digging a new grave was likely to uncover some remains. Likewise, when foundations were being dug the same could happen. In the latter situation it was normal to incorporate the bones within the wall. This might seem strange to modern minds, but bone is a very strong material and so could be used in this way (the first two photographs show bones more than 500 years old and still supporting the wall).

 

E84 St Nicholas Site Week 35 Stewart (Robbo) with skeletons in wall (Ian's section) Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums Collections
Large collection of bones built into a wall

The third photograph shows a much larger assemblage of bones found in a wall towards the west end of the dig area. Presumably several graves were disturbed during site preparation. The archaeologist is actually working on a grave right at the foot of the wall.

 

Post 47 (d) DSCN0446
Bones sticking out of a 19th century wall

 

 

 

The final photograph shows a wall, which still exists, which was probably built when the East Kirk was rebuilt in 1837. It shows some of the bones which stick out from the wall. There are many more, including one or two skulls in the whole wall.

 

First three photographs are copyright and used with permission of Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums Collections

The East Kirk in the 1800s

History,

Following completion of the major expansion of the church building around the end of the 15th century, there were no major external changes, although there were internal modifications both small and large, including the division of the interior to create two separate sanctuaries – the Auld and New Kirks – in 1596. In the early 1700s the Auld Kirk fell into disrepair and in 1732 the building was closed as unsafe. It was eventually rebuilt to a design by James Gibbs, work started in 1751 and it was opened in November 1755 a year after Gibbs death. This meant that the Auld Kirk was now newer than the New Kirk. So to avoid confusion, they were renamed the West Kirk and the East Kirk.

Post 46 (a) South wall with 15th century wall and 1837 wall on top April 2015 DSCN0447
15th century wall (left) and 19th century wall on top (right)

Meanwhile, the East Kirk remained unchanged until, during the early 1830s, led by the then minister, Dr James Foote and architect Archibald Simpson, people were convinced that the building was ‘old fashioned’ and should be rebuilt to have a greater capacity and be in a modern and airy style. Whilst the City Architect, John Smith, objected, the demolition went ahead and the new building was erected on the old foundations to a design by Archibald Simpson. It was dedicated on 7th May 1837. These are the walls seen from the outside today. The walls were indeed built on top of the remaining 15th century walls. On the south side the junction can be clearly seen on the inside. Whilst it is difficult to photograph, the first photograph attempts to show the 15th century wall (left) and the 19th century wall (right) as seen from above. The latter wall is several inches thinner than the earlier wall.

 

Post 46 (b) North wall 1837 April 2015 DSCN0449
The interior of the walls built in 1837

Outside, the walls are smoothly dressed granite. The surfaces inside are much rougher. The second photograph shows a section of the exposed interior wall on the north side between two windows below the gallery.

 

 

 

 

Post 46 (c) North wall of 1837 sat on some 15th century wall and smoke damage of 1874 April 2015 DSCN0445
Fire damage on the inside of 1837 wall. Lower part of wall is from the 1490s

In 1874 there was a drastic fire – more will be written about this in a future blog. As far as the East Kirk was concerned the roof and interior was gutted. Evidence of the fire emerged during the archaeological dig in 2006. In the upper layers of the soil there was a layer of ash from the fire. A number of stones were also found which had been cracked by the heat. In addition evidence still remains on the inside of the walls where there is clear smoke damage. This is shown in the third photograph, where the darkened stone is soot on the wall of the 1837 building. This area is sat directly on top of the wall dating from the late 1400s.

Copper alloy chain

Archaeology, History,
E84 St Nicholas Site Week 32 Building in area B - work in progress Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums Collections
General view of sacristy, east wall across bottom (yellow buckets inside sacristy)

The first photograph in this post shows the lower part of the walls of a building to the north of the main church building as it was in the 13th to 15th centuries. Because of its position it is assumed that this would have been a sacristy – a place for keeping vestments, sacred vessels, books and other items used in worship and also for keeping church records. There was some rather tentative evidence when this was being uncovered during the archaeological dig of 2006 that this could have been a two-storey building. Inside there were many intriguing artefacts.

 

E84 St Nicholas site Week 33 Chain 1203 Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums Collections
A copper alloy chain found in the sacristy

The second photograph shows one of these artefacts, a delicate copper alloy chain. Its construction is unusual with a ‘figure of eight’ shaped link, so that it produces a double chain. Many different alloys of copper have been used, by adding a second metal, for example bronze (copper and tin) and brass (copper and zinc). Their use was common because of their resistance to corrosion – as this photograph shows, since this chain is likely to have been in the soil for more than 600 years. The scale shown has 1cm divisions, so it can be seen that creating this chain would have been quite an intricate task. The chain has not yet been conserved because we have not had sufficient funds. Once it has been cleaned and conserved the true craftsmanship will become more obvious. We are always open to offers to help with the post-excavation work which still has to be carried out.

(The photographs are copyright Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums Collections and used with permission.)

‘Betrothal of Mary’

History, Progress, ,
Post 43 Betrothal of Mary, Stachan window, SMC
‘Betrothal of Mary’ window by Douglas Strachan

One of the most beautiful windows in St Mary’s Chapel depicts the ‘Betrothal of Mary’. The Jewish customs of two thousand years ago may seem rigid compared with what we are used to in the West today. These customs meant that the engagement was probably arranged by the parents, maybe without Mary or Joseph being consulted. There would need to be a contract, part of which would be the ‘bride price’ to be paid by the groom’s family. The contract was implemented immediately and was binding on the couple. In effect they were considered married, but what we think of as a wedding ceremony would not occur for a considerable time, sometimes up to a year, later. During their betrothal, the couple would have little contact with each other, in order to test their commitment to each other. When Mary and Joseph became engaged is not known. In their case the events of this ‘pre-consummation’ phase of their marriage certainly tested them, following Mary’s pregnancy with Jesus. The Bible tells us that Joseph was minded to break off the relationship, but was dissuaded by the Angel Gabriel.

The window was created by the Aberdeen artist Douglas Strachan in 1899 when still in his twenties. He studied at Robert Gordon’s College and Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen before working as an illustrator on newspapers in the north of England. He was persuaded to try designing stained glass. This window in St Mary’s Chapel is his very first commission (there is a later example of his work upstairs in the former East Kirk). He was prolific in his work with stained glass all over the United Kingdom and some overseas. By 1908 he had moved to live in Edinburgh from where he worked for the rest of his life. The University of his home city awarded him an Honorary Doctorate in 1923. His largest commission was for the windows of the Scottish National War Memorial in Edinburgh Castle. He died at his home in Midlothian in 1950 at the age of 75 and is buried in the Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh. The window was restored as part of the Mither Kirk Project in 2010 following some damage due to vandalism.

The building dedicated in 1498

History

Following the building of St Mary’s Chapel by the middle of the 15th century (see Blog for 23rd May 2015), work progressed to enlarge the church ‘upstairs’. The records suggest that there was a pause in the work ‘upstairs’ – perhaps to allow funds to be assigned to building a bridge over the Dee. In November 1474 a contract was recorded between Sir Andrew Wright, master of kirk work and David Menzies for the delivery to the harbour of three cartloads, of specified size, of lead. Thereafter, for the rest of the decade there are several reference to the building works at the kirk and to the provision of finance  – from fishings on the Don and ‘wattir of Crvis’ and from taxation on goods passing through the harbour. For some reason not altogether clear, the Provost, Alexander Chalmers, was appointed for two years from September 1477 ‘upper and principal master of work’ to whom Sir Andrew Wright was answerable. Exactly when the building was completed is unclear. It was dedicated by Bishop Elphinstone on 24th September 1498, but some works were still taking place into the next century, perhaps as late as 1520. The church which was dedicated by Bishop Elphinstone was one of the largest parish churches in Scotland and was slightly longer towards Back Wynd than the present building. None of that building is visible from the outside, indeed before the archaeological dig in 2006, none of it was visible on the inside either. However, an extensive part of the south chancel wall was uncovered during the dig. The first photograph shows a general view of the lower part of that wall.

Post 42 (a) DSCN0443
Lower part of 15th century south chancel wall

Some interesting features emerged as the wall was uncovered during 2006. In the photograph, the rough stones at the bottom are the foundations for the wall, with the properly dressed stones of the actual wall built on top of them. It is worth noting that the wall at the left of the photograph is two or three metres under the modern ground level. The surprising feature in the wall clearly visible in the photograph is the ‘slope’ upwards from left to right of the junction between foundations and wall. There were insufficient remains to know why this was, but it appeared as though it was a sloping walkway from the level of St Mary’s Chapel up to the sanctuary above. Maybe this preceded the staircase which was found at the north side of the building and was removed once the latter was completed.

E84 St Nicholas church Site Week 41 Main Wall South of Church Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums Collections
Upper portion of 15th century wall

The second photograph shows the upper part of the wall by where it joins the wall at the west of St Mary’s Chapel (a small section of that is just visible on the left). There is evidence in the structure that there had been alterations to the walls at some stage because the stones do not ‘key-in’ as would be expected. There is also a suggestion that there might have been a filled in window in the wall (just left of centre of the photograph). If this is the case, it could have been to allow light onto the sloping walkway referred to above. Whilst there are remnants of these 15th century walls on the north side, they are not as extensive, suggesting that there was a greater amount of rebuilding in the 19th century when the present exterior was created.

Photographs copyright and used courtesy of Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums Collections

William Dyce RA

History

William Dyce was born in Aberdeen in 1806. His father was a doctor of some renown. William was a gifted scholar, graduating with an MA from Marischal College at the age of 16. Rather than entering one of the ‘learned professions’ as would have been normal, he opted to follow his interest and ability in art, firstly at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh and then at the Royal Academy in London. After a few months in Rome he returned to London and produced, at the age of 20, several paintings. His early professional work were mainly portraits, but he later widened his scope considerably concentrating on mythical and religious subjects. Some of his finest work are the frescos in the Queen’s Robing Room in the newly built House of Lords. Commissioned in 1847, these are based on the Arthurian Legends and use allegory to depict virtues such as mercy, hospitality and courtesy. Those of courage and fidelity were not started before his death. However, William Dyce had many other interests. He was very influential in developing art education, he was a fine organist and composed a number of works, he won a prize for some work on electromagnetism in animals and was involved in founding the Motett Society to study early church music.

Post 41 William Dyce
Memorial to William Dyce RA in the Kirkyard

Most of his life was spent in London where he died in 1864 and is buried at St Leonard’s Church, Streatham. However, he is not forgotten in his native Aberdeen. Apart from the large collection of his works in Aberdeen Art Gallery (temporarily closed for major renovation) he is remembered on a grave structure in the Kirk of St Nicholas Kirkyard. As the photograph shows, the structure is showing signs of ageing. To find the memorial go up the main path from Union Street almost up to the front door of the Kirk. On the right is a tree a few yards from the path. The memorial is ‘behind’ the tree.

St Mary’s Chapel wall

Archaeology, History

In this post, we continue reviewing the development of the building as shown by the walls uncovered during the archaeology. This one looks at the building of St Mary’s Chapel. As with most of the early work there is insufficient written information to say when the work took place. It is known that from the early 15th century, plans were being made for the expansion of the relatively small main church to create a cathedral-sized building. However, this was hampered by the lie of the land. The existing building was on the top a small hill, with the ground sloping away gradually to the south towards the harbour and to the north towards the Loch. To the west was the Denburn valley and immediately to the east the fairly steep slopes of the Putachie Burn. Some idea of the latter can be seen today in the form of the steps down from the Kirkyard to the top of Correction Wynd.

In order to facilitate the expansion to the east a separate building was erected. This was a chantry chapel, now known as St Mary’s Chapel, which would act as an undercroft to allow the expansion of the church building above it at a later date. During the archaeological dig the west wall of the Chapel was uncovered and is shown as it is today in the photograph. The exact date of building the Chapel is not known, but it was probably around the 1440s. At the time it was erected St Mary’s Chapel was a completely separate building in the burial ground, about 10 feet to the east of the existing church building. There were burials in the ground between the two buildings and the west wall of St Mary’s Chapel was actually built on top of some of the burials.

Post 39 St Mary's Chapel wall
West wall of St Mary’s Chapel from the dig area

There are two doorways through the wall which would have allowed access to the expanded building above – one can be seen in the photograph to the right, with a light in the Chapel showing through. One doorway lead to a stairway, part of which still remains. The other may have had a stair, but there is also evidence that there was some sort of sloping path or ramp (this will feature in a later blog). The wall itself has various features, the most obvious of which can be seen in the  centre of the photograph, namely the protruding stones. It is assumed that these were built like this to allow the expanded church building to key into the wall. They would have acted as the springer, or lowest voussoir, of the arches supporting the floor of the expanded church later in the century. The top of the wall in the photograph was at the floor level of the former East Kirk. The soil which can be seen is at the ground level of Aberdeen a millennium ago. The vertical steel beam to the right is part of the temporary supports for the gallery above.

Wood in St Mary’s Chapel

History

One of the most noticeable features in St Mary’s Chapel is the carved wood panels around the walls – the largest such assemblage in the country.  Previously we have featured the wood from the choir stalls (by John Fendour in 1508) and the panel for Provost Alexander Rutherford (dated 1606). Around the walls are dozens of wood panels of different size and complexity of carving. Some panels are dated, the earliest being 1601 and the latest being 1677. Where did they come from?

After the Reformation, for which 1560 was the decisive year in Scotland, sermons became a more central and lengthy feature of worship.  Seating, which was unusual in the middle ages, became very desirable.  Wealthy people and public bodies began to be given permission to erect ‘desks’ or ‘lofts’ with seating, while the less well-to-do and women had to stand, or bring their own stools.

Post 37 (a) Outside of Wood Panel DSCN0437
Outside of pew end
Post 37 (b) Inside of Wood Panel DSCN0436
Inside of pew end

People who had gone to the extent of paying to build a desk wished to mark it as theirs by having the ends, the seat backs, or the gallery breasts carved with a name, family crest, trade symbol or some other identifying motif. Some of these were quite elaborate, were often coloured, and display the skilled craftsmanship available locally. The first photographs show the outside and inside of one of these panels, the latter carved in the upper part, and the ledge for the seat to rest on.

 

 

 

When the churches ‘upstairs’ were changed, the carved wood was no longer required for its original purpose. Some was transferred to Greyfriars Church, some was auctioned and some was stored and later incorporated into the pews built in St Mary’s Chapel. The picture of the Chapel (taken from an old photograph) from the apse end, is from the later 1800s and shows the carved wood as used in this way.

 

Post 37 (c) Old photograph of St Mary's Chapel DSCN0451
Old photograph showing panels used in pews prior to 1898
Post 37 (d) Wood Panels in SMC
Wood panels displayed on the wall

During the 1890s, it was decided to restructure the interior of St Mary’s Chapel, the work being completed in 1898. It was felt that the existing arrangement did not do justice to the quality and interest of the wood, so the panels were arranged round the walls in their present day positions. The next photograph is of an area of wall in the north aisle, although unfortunately this wood had to be removed due to outbreaks of dry rot. It is currently stored in a specially built rack to prevent it warping as the building dries out as shown in the final photograph.

Post 37 (e) Rack storing removed panels DSCN0440
Removed wood panels stored in special rack to prevent warping

 

 

Several articles have been written about this woodwork, to interpret its meaning and identify those to whom it relates, but much remains to be done. We hope to be able to provide more detail in the future.

The Annunciation

History

As recounted in the New Testament the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary to tell her that she was to give birth to a son. The church calls this ‘the annunciation’ and, not surprisingly, celebrates it 9 months before Christmas. Traditionally the Feast of the Annunciation is celebrated on 25th March although the date may be changed depending on when Easter occurs. The first chapter of St Luke’s Gospel gives the fullest account of the annunciation. In it, the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her that she was greatly blessed and would have a son – who would be called Jesus. Mary, who was engaged to be married to Joseph, found it difficult to comprehend, but in faith she was able to respond ‘I am the Lord’s servant, may it happen to me as you have said’. The story not only appears in the Bible, but a shorter version also appears in the Qur’an.

Post 34 Annunciation-ChalmersWindow-WestKirkIn the Christian church, the annunciation is important because it shows the human and the divine nature of Jesus. Many famous artists have attempted to depict the scene through the medium of paint. But it also features in many stained glass windows in churches – these windows were used to help teach Bible stories to those who could not read well. The picture with this article is part of a window in the West Kirk of St Nicholas which shows the annunciation. The window was made by the London firm of Burlison and Grylls and depicts five scenes from the life of Christ (including the nativity scene shown in the blog for Christmas 2014). In some depictions of the annunciation the Angel Gabriel is seen holding a white lily of purity. In this window, however, he is holding a sceptre – but the lilies are there, on the ground between Gabriel and Mary.

The photograph, which is copyright Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums Collections, is used with permission.

The Hamilton Memorial

History

 

Post 32 Hamilton Memorial NGR ca 2005
Hamilton Memorial 2005 Photograph courtesy of  Groves-Raines Architect

The high four-pillared monument, the most prominent in the Kirkyard, which stands near the Union Street Gate, commemorates Robert Hamilton (1743-1829).  Made of granite, it was erected in 1843 by public subscription and was designed by the City Architect, John Smith, who some years previously, had designed the nearby screen and gateway.

Robert Hamilton had an interesting life having a variety of employments. Initially this was in banking, then industrial management, followed by school-mastering. In 1777 Robert Hamilton was appointed Professor of Natural Philosophy in Marischal College and later became Professor of Mathematics.  He wrote widely, including an influential work on the National Debt. This no doubt included references to his interest in the economic consequences of slavery, as well as the moral awareness which then played a larger part in economic argument than it does today. He made significant  contributions to the anti-slavery movement and was the first President of the Aberdeen Abolition Society a position he held until his death. He is still recognised in the City in the name of Hamilton Place.

Post 32 Hamilton Memorial
Hamilton Memorial in 2015

The first picture, above, was taken by our architect about 10 years ago when the memorial was in much better condition. The second shows it as it is today with the central urn missing – it can just be seen to the bottom left unturned behind the memorial to ‘William Allen of Mileend’, and some weeds growing. The inscription to Robert Hamilton is in Latin. The contrast between the photographs shows the need to undertake regular maintenance of these old structures, because decay can quickly set in.