Page:The ecclesiastical architecture of Scotland ( Volume 3).djvu/187

 the fan vaulting common in England in the fifteenth century. The heavy pendants were also probably derived from the same source.

Against the east wall of the choir were the remains of four altars, which have been restored (see Fig. 1083), one of them being situated over the stair leading to the lower chapel. Beside it there is a square headed piscina, and on the south side of the other altars there are ogee headed recesses in the wall. On the east side of the south doorway there is a richly carved stoup.

In the transepts (Fig. 1084) there are remains of three canopied piscinas, two in the south transept and one in the north transept. They bear a general resemblance in their details to the sacrament houses in some of the churches in the north, and to the piscinas in Melrose Abbey. Between the two in the south transept there is a recess in the wall, showing where an altar has been intended, and a similar indication in the north transept on the north side of the piscina shows the same intention. Over each of these altars there are three moulded and carved brackets, probably meant for statues. On the south side of the centre opening into the choir there is a recess for another altar, and on the north side there is an arched piscina; both have carved brackets above them. A bracket in a similar position, relative to the altar and piscina, exists at Dunglass Church.

A singular feature of the church, which would have been more apparent had it been finished, is that the choir is almost cut off by a solid wall from what would have been the other divisions of the structure. Fig. 1084 shows the wall as seen from the outside. The openings into the side aisles are about 4 feet 3 inches wide and about 11 feet high, and the opening on the ground level into the central aisle is about 7 feet wide. These three openings are all covered with straight arches. Above the central opening there is a lofty aperture like a window covered with a pointed arch, probably meant to contain the rood. Above the caps of the jambs of the side openings there are two carved figures (Fig. 1085), that on the north being St. Sebastian, and that on the south St. Christopher.

Beyond the east end of the church and on a lower level, so as to suit the slope of the ground (Fig. 1086), a chapel has been erected, which is reached from the south aisle by a straight stair of twenty-five steps. This chapel measures 36 feet in length from east to west by 14 feet wide. It is barrel vaulted (Fig. 1087), and is lighted by one window only, at the east end. The window is a simple pointed one, without tracery. There are several ambries in the walls, and an eastern altar with a piscina. There are also a fireplace and a small closet about 11 feet square on the north side. A door leads out on the south to what has been an open court, where there are indications of other buildings having existed or been intended. It would thus appear that in all probability