Category Archives: History

An early church building

October 20, 2014HistoryBuildingsArthur

Being certain of the age of an old building is almost impossible. Frequently there is very little written evidence and what there is may be inconclusive. Dating therefore comes down to using circumstantial evidence, archaeological findings and experience. In an earlier post, the apse of what was probably the first building on the site of the present Kirk of St Nicholas was shown.

In this post we move forward several decades, perhaps even a couple of hundred years – we just do not know. Part of the walls of the present day Drum’s Aisle, particularly around the ‘Oil Chapel’ date, probably date back to around 1150s. Drum’s Aisle was the transept of a cruciform church, but it was not necessarily all built at the same time. During the archaeological dig in the former East Kirk of St Nicholas, the lower levels of the whole of the choir, the east end that building, were found. The choir would have housed the altar and so, if the erection had been in stages, this would have been built first. The walls uncovered show that the width of the choir as the transept were approximately the same. The choir was about 60 feet long measured from the transept – that is only about half the length of the present building. From this it might be assumed that the nave would also have been of a similar width. Parts of it could still remain under the floor of the West Kirk.

Post 22 (a) View 12 century east end looking north

The walls of the choir were quite substantial. However two different east ends to the building were found. It seems unlikely that this was as a result of making the building larger because the gap between the east walls was only a little over a foot. This poses the question ‘why?’ The stonework in the adjacent side walls probably answers that, since it indicated that the original east end had slipped down the slope of the Putachie Burn and had to be replaced along with a partial rebuild of the side walls. This may have happened as soon as 50 years after it was originally built. The soils exposed during the excavation indicate that the ground was marshy, so could have been quite unstable. The ‘new’ east end was reinforced with buttresses and made of beautifully worked sandstone. The two photographs show a general view of the east end as it was being uncovered (looking in a northerly direction) and the second one is a close-up of one of the north-east corner. The quality of the stonemasonry is obvious. Post 22 (b) Close up of NE buttress of rebuilt east wall

Aspects of the side walls of the choir will feature in a future post.

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

Grave slabs in St Mary’s Chapel – Part 3

September 25, 2014HistoryGrave slabArthur

Th last of the grave slabs in this series is at the opposite side of the ‘John Fendour’ desk to the Burnet brother’s gravestone.

It is the one shown in this photograph and is for Marjorie Burnet. The inscription for her reads “Heir restis the bodie of Mariorie Bvrnet the loving wyf of Alexander Toasch departed [M]aii 9th 1683 and of her age the 24th yeir” The Bible verse reads “The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance” (Psalm 112, verse 6).

The shield displays both the Burnet and Toash arms. The latter, to the left being those of the man, shows a galley and an arm with the hand grasping a heart, with a ring above. There is a slight difference in the Burnet arms from those shown previously in that this one also has a ring towards the top of the middle holly leaf. It can also be seen that the margin round the edge of the gravestone is blank. It would, as was the tradition, have been left to record the death of Alexander Toash, but the inscription was never made.

One small footnote – the Kirk and Bridge Work Accounts of the City of Aberdeen show that the burial took place on 11th May, just two days after she died, and that it cost £20.

Grave slabs in St Mary’s Chapel – Part 2

September 23, 2014HistoryGrave slabArthur

This is the second of the series on grave slabs in St Mary’s Chapel. It records one of the more tragic incidents in Aberdeen’s history. The gravestone is shown here.

Around the edge the inscription reads “Heir lyes Thomas and Andrew Bvrnet brothers, bvrgesses of ABD qvho departed this lyf 13 Septr 1644″. The brothers were killed in the ‘cruell and bloodie feight and conflict quhiche was fochten betuixt the Crabstane and the Justice Mylnes”. The fight took place because Aberdeen (then dominated by the Covenanting party and reinforced by militia from Fife) refused to surrender to the Royalist Marquis of Montrose. In those days, to be a Burgess of the City meant that you had to be prepared to take arms and fight to protect the City. It was a tragic loss for the family.

Also mentioned on the gravestone is ‘Alexander Burnet, son of Thomas Burnet who died on 29th April 1686 and Sicklyke Agnes Moir, his wife, who died on 18th June 1686’. The stone has been broken diagonally across the centre at some time, but it does show a finely carved representation of the Burnet arms (three holly leaves over a hunting horn – the horn of Leys) with a helmet and mantling together with the initials of the brothers.

Grave slabs in St Mary’s Chapel – Part 1

September 20, 2014HistoryGrave slabArthur

Before the rebuilding of the West Kirk in 1755 and of the East Kirk in 1837 much of the flooring of the whole Kirk was provided by grave slabs some of which were removed and left in the churchyard. A number of these were taken into St Mary’s Chapel for better preservation when it was restored in 1898 and were incorporated into the floor. This series of posts will deal with the three most prominent of these.

This post shows the gravestone for Robert Burnet. The inscription reads “Here lyes Robert Bvrnet, merchant, Burg of ABD who departed the 23 of March 1674”. In the centre can be seen the arms of Burnet of Leys, (three holly leaves above a hunting horn) with, in this case, a square in the centre to differentiate this holder from the head of the family. These are combined with those of Gray family arms (a lion rampant) together with the initials RB and MG of husband and wife The Latin motto can be translated ‘Courage grows by wounding’.

The stone itself is central in St Mary’s Chapel just in front of the desk which featured a few weeks ago in these posts.

John Fendour, master wood carver

August 8, 2014HistorySt Mary's Chapel, WoodArthur

John Fendour was a master wood carver of Flemish origin. Around 1500 he was renowned as one of the best wood carvers in the world. Aberdeen is fortunate that he was active at two churches – King’s College Chapel and St Nicholas Church. According to the records of the day, it was in 1495 that John Fendour was employed to work on the building work involved in expanding St Nicholas Church to make it one of the largest parish churches in Scotland. Initially he worked on the ceiling. Whilst the building was dedicated in 1498, the ceiling was not finally finished until 1515. In the intervening years he also worked on the choir stalls and he was also working on King’s College Chapel and Falkland Palace in Fife. Unfortunately, the east end of the building was demolished in 1835 to make way for the present building. As a result, the ceiling and most of the woodwork was lost. However a few years before it was demolished the ceiling was described as a ‘timber wagon roof, decorated with slender cross ribs, foliate sprays and an ornamental cornice’. John Fendour was commissioned to work on King’s College when building work started there in 1500. It is, therefore, not surprising that scholarship has established that the work at King’s College and St Nicholas Church were of a similar style, and indeed were influenced by styles used in a number of churches in the Netherlands. Thus, whilst we cannot know exactly what the stalls and ceiling in St Nicholas Church looked like, surviving pieces of the former and drawings of the latter together with those still visible in King’s College Chapel give a good indication of their appearance.

The most substantial part of John Fendour’s work surviving in St Nicholas Church is the long desk at the west end of St Mary’s Chapel (shown in the first photograph) with seven panels on the front and one on either end. One similar panel has been incorporated in a Victorian reading desk and others in furniture made for the 1937 refurbishment of the East Church. Upper parts of the choir stalls are in the National Museum of Scotland. Other panels were incorporated into the Deacon Convener’s Chair of the Incorporated Trades of Aberdeen. The second photographs shows one of the panels in closer detail. The carving was carried out in 1508.

Captain Penny Memorial

June 15, 2014HistoryKirkyardArthur

There are many significant individuals buried in the Kirkyard. From time to time we intend showing some of these and telling a little of the story of the person commemorated.

This picture shows the memorial to Captain William Penny. He was born into a whaling family in 1809 and had started working for his father by the age of 12 and continued in the trade for 47 years. He died in Aberdeen aged 82 years. He was something of a pioneer, being an early enthusiast for the use of steam rather than sail. His crew were less keen and threatened to tar and feather him!

The memorial records ‘Arctic explorer who assisted in the Franklin expeditions of 1850 and 1851’. In addition to being a whaler, Penny was an explorer of the seas off the Canadian Arctic Territories, where the Penny Strait is name after him. He is said to be the first explorer to see the open Polar Sea (Arctic Ocean) to the north of the Penny Straits. Sir John Franklin was another arctic explorer who had attempted to penetrate Lancaster Sound in 1845 in search of the ‘North-West Passage’, but never returned. The Admiralty organised a search for Franklin. It was Penny who, in 1851, found traces of Franklin’s winter quarters on 1845-6 on Beechey Island. The mortal remains of Franklin have never been found, although he seems to have died in June 1847. There is more information about Captain Penny in the Aberdeen Maritime Museum.

An old wall

May 4, 2014HistoryWallsArthur

Towards the end of the dig in 2006, the archaeologists uncovered a curved wall at the west end of the dig site. Because it was underneath the ‘viewing window’ and the floor had to be taken up to allow this part of the excavation to take place it was left until late on in the dig. What emerged was a semi-circular stone wall about three feet high and 4 feet thick. It was the apse at the east end of a building, previously unknown and predating the Drum’s Aisle of the Kirk of St Nicholas (the latter probably dates from about 1140). Not only was most of the wall there, but also some of the mortar floor inside the building. The first photograph shows the main section of the apse looking from the north-east. The photograph below is taken from the west and shows and the floor (with the curved apse wall round the right hand side). The gap in the wall and floor was caused by a much later burial. Very close to the base of the wall were about 20 infant burials.

There is uncertainty about the age of the wall and floor. Whilst apses had been used in buildings from Roman times, their use in Scotland was uncommon. One suggestion is that it dates from about 1100 AD. However, building experts indicate that the wall could not have been built without damaging the babies’ burials – and they were not disturbed. This and a carbon date on one of the babies suggests an earlier date. Either way, this is the oldest wall and oldest floor presently visible in Aberdeen. When the Mither Kirk Project is complete, this area will be conserved and available for people to view as part of the proposed heritage centre.

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

Easter Day

April 20, 2014HistoryStained glassArthur

The crucifixion of Jesus took place on a Friday. When he died it was too late to prepare the body of Jesus for burial, so it was placed temporarily in a new burial cave. Only on the Sunday morning, after the Jewish Sabbath, did the first opportunity arise for the women to visit and prepare the body for proper burial. The right hand light of the central window in the former East Kirk depicts one of the events of that morning. We see Mary Magdalene, an early arrival, met by a man and ‘supposing him to be the gardener’ It is Jesus! He is not dead: he is victor over death. This is central to Christian faith and means that we can all say ‘Happy Easter’.

Good Friday

April 18, 2014HistoryStained glassArthur

The events of the day called Good Friday, and of the following Sunday, Easter Day, are central to the Christian message, so it is no surprise that many stained glass windows (and other objects) at a focal point in churches seek to portray them. In the apse at the east end of St Nicholas’ there are three windows – the nativity scene which was shared at Christmas is in one of these. The central window was created by Marjorie Kemp of Edinburgh in 1936 in memory of Dr James Cooper, a former minister. At the centre is a depiction of Christ crucified. This part of the window is shown in today’s image. The picture also shows Mary, the mother of Jesus, and John, one of his disciples, who followed Jesus to the cross, standing on each side with eyes cast down and sorrow on their faces. In three days we will share another part of the same window.

Dr William Guild Memorial

Dr William Guild, born about 1586 was the sole surviving son of Matthew Guild, a wealthy Aberdeen armourer and member of the Hammerman Trade. He studied at the newly founded Marischal College and was ordained to Kinedward parish in 1608. He was appointed one of the ministers of St Nicholas in 1631 and two years later purchased the chapel and monastery of the Trinitarian friars to be a meeting place for the seven Incorporated Trades and a hospital or home for decayed tradesmen. In recognition of his generosity Dr Guild was appointed their first Patron – an office which continues to be held by a minister of the Gospel. The name, Trinity Hall, used also for subsequent buildings in Union Street and in Holburn Street, commemorates its origins. He himself is commemorated by the modern-day Guild Street. In the seventeenth century various public bodies, including the Trades, had seats or ‘lofts’ in the Kirk on which were displayed their insignia. A 20th century panel adorns the loft front of the Incorporated Trades and there the principal office bearers sit when they come to be ‘kirked’, according to long-standing custom, on the 2nd Sunday of November. His large and impressive memorial, shown in the photograph, was erected by his widow and is located in the Kirkyard on the wall just to the north of the gateway from Back Wynd. The original Latin inscription panel was replaced in 1883, in red granite, by the Incorporated Trades.

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