Ruskin Lane Consulting Autumn 2013 | Page 35

REVIEWS BOOKS The Architecture of the Scottish Medieval Church 1100-1560 Rarely does one get the chance to read the distillation of a lifetime of erudite academic research but here it is. The importance of Scotland’s rich pre-Reformation ecclesiastical heritage has long been recognised, with numerous major monuments being in the care of Historic Scotland. Here one of their most eminent historians, Dr Fawcett, examines in great detail the development of the church. This is a book that is not confined by the geographic limits of Scotland but puts the complex story in an international context showing Scotland’s masons looked to the Low Countries and to France for their inspiration. Scottish form of Gothic of the 15th century is celebrated in buildings such as Roslin Chapel, St Michael’s of Linlithgow and the High Kirk of St Giles, Edinburgh. This Scottish reading and interpretation of the Gothic is taken further in the 16th century when for example the crown steeple becomes a recognisable, if not exclusively, Scottish feature in such buildings as Kings College Chapel, Aberdeen and St Giles, Edinburgh. The final chapter elegantly draws together the complex arguments to a conclusion showing how the Reformation impacted on the church buildings that survived the destruction. Glasgow Cathedral along with many others was subdivided to create a number of Author: Richard Fawcett Published by: smaller preaching kirks. The narrative concludes Yale University Press (2011) The book is, thankfully, arranged chronologically. with two important 17th century monuments, ISBN: 0300170491 Beginning with the early church before 1100, it namely, the church at Dairsie and the chapel of Price: £50.00 looks at beehive monastic cells, and the Heriot’s Hospital, two late flowerings of Scots magnificent 10th century Irish influenced round Gothic. towers of Brechin and Abernethy. It then moves to the As the aut