Nave, Dunfermline Abbey, Dunfermline

The nave of Dunfermline Abbey is a remarkable Romanesque church building constructed between 1128 and 1150, with significant later alterations and additions. The west end and towers were rebuilt around 1400, the south tower was reconstructed by William Stark in 1811, buttresses were added and the south aisle rebuilt in the 1620s, and the entire structure was restored between 1845 and 1848 by William Nixon and Robert Matheson.

This is a seven-bay nave with groin-vaulted aisles divided by massive circular-section piers. Notable Romanesque carving survives on three entrances, the aisle windows, and two internal piers. The rebuilt west end, except for its entrance, features a taller north tower topped with a spire. Prominent flying buttresses dating from the 1620s support the aisle walls. The interior contains early funerary monuments. The building is constructed of coursed sandstone, with the south tower having a droved finish, and ashlar dressings throughout. A string course runs at the cill level of the original round-arched aisle windows, and corbelled parapets top the nave and aisle walls. The nave bays are divided by pilaster strips, though those on the aisles are obscured by later buttresses.

West End

The central entrance leads to a lean-to porch with a stone-flagged roof. The recessed round-arched doorway steps forward in five stages, each with nook-shafts to the jambs alternating between round and octagonal profiles. These shafts have carved scalloped capitals topped by star-decorated abaci and plain bases. The voussoirs of the inner arch orders feature chevron decoration, except for one with chip-carving. The outer voussoirs are carved with grotesque heads alternating with various motifs and protected by a hood-mould. A late 20th-century two-leaf boarded timber door with ornate strap hinges fills the opening. Above the porch sits a Y-traceried Gothic window with hood-mould, with a blocked four-light circular window with cusped tracery above it. Higher still is a four-light Gothic window arcade with trefoil heads at the apex above the roof line, and a circular quatrefoil window in the gablehead.

The north tower adjoins to the left and has three stages. A two-tier base course articulates around flanking buttresses with gableted heads. The lower stage contains a Y-traceried Gothic window with hood-mould and cill band. The upper stage has segmental-headed belfry windows with louvred vents and hood-moulds on each face of the tower, with a band course along the cills. Above sits a machicolated parapet and three-tiered octagonal spire, probably dating from the early 16th century. The spire stages are divided by band courses, with the lowest stage having a steeper pitch. Lancet openings appear on alternate faces of the upper stage. A metal ball finial with weathervane crowns the spire.

The south tower adjoins the gable end to the right. It has a two-tier base course articulated around flanking buttresses with gableted heads. A Y-traceried Gothic window with hood-mould and cill band occupies the lower stage. A glazed arrowslit appears to the left of the second stage. The upper stage has lancet windows with hood-moulds above a band course on the west and south faces. A crenellated parapet with pyramidal pinnacles at the corners tops the tower.

South Elevation

The aisle bays are divided by stepped flying buttresses dated 1625 with gableted heads; the outermost left buttress is taller. Two of the central buttresses have frames for armorial panels. Entrances appear in the outer right bay and second bay from the left. The recessed round-arched doorway in the outer right bay steps forward in four stages with nook-shafts having elaborately carved capitals on the inner two jambs. The shafts have circular bases on square plinths. The arch voussoirs are decorated with chevron motif, except the outer one which has rosettes. The abaci and impost bands are carved with scrolls. A late 20th-century two-leaf boarded and studded timber door fills the entrance.

The recessed round-arched entrance in the second bay from the left steps forward in five stages, each with ribbed voussoirs and chamfered jambs. A panel bearing the arms of the 1st Earl of Dunfermline and the date 1607 appears to the right. A lean-to mausoleum, the Wardlaw Vault, occupies the second bay from the right, with an arrowslit to the centre and stone-flagged roof. The entrance on the right return was created in 1905 when the vault was reduced in size; a panel above bears a Latin inscription, the Wardlaw coat of arms, and the date 1616.

Recessed round-arched aisle windows appear in all bays except the outer left. Their voussoirs step forward in four stages, with a single nook-shaft having a carved capital on each jamb. The shafts have circular bases on square plinths. Chevron and billet decoration ornament the voussoirs, and the abaci and impost bands are similarly decorated. Blocked triangular-headed windows divided into pairs of lancet lights (copied from a pair of altered windows on the north elevation in the 1840s) appear in the triforium, flanked by nook-shafts. Round-arched windows in the clerestory sit set back above.

A gableted buttress stands to the left of the tower on the outer left, with a glazed arrowslit above to the right and a small window on the right return. Remains of a Romanesque pilaster survive on the upper right side of the tower. A louvred lancet window occupies the upper stage of the tower.

North Elevation

Three aisle bays to the left are divided by stepped flying buttresses dated 1620 with gableted heads. The entrance in the second bay from the right is accessed via a 15th-century gabled porch with stone-flagged roof built over a lean-to porch, also with a stone-flagged roof. A blind arcade decorates the lean-to porch with eight round-arched recesses supported on shafts with cubical capitals and abaci, flanked by 15th-century buttresses. The upper sections of these buttresses are corbelled out with niches—the base of the western one carved with the arms of Abbot Richard de Bothwell (1446-82)—and gableted heads.

The gabled outer porch has a two-tier base course on the outer (east and west) sides articulated around flanking buttresses. The recessed round-arched entrance steps forward in three stages with a hood-mould. The jambs form angled shafts with impost bands as capitals and shared rounded bases on square plinths. A niche appears at the apex. The interior features elaborate double rib-vaulting with tiercerons and bosses carved with coats of arms (of Abbot Richard de Bothwell and Queen Margaret), heads, and floral designs. Grotesque heads ornament the vault corbels. A pair of ogee-headed niches and various funerary monuments occupy the internal walls, including one with Corinthian columns and broken pediment to Sir Robert Adie (1719).

The original entrance to the nave has a cambered and jointed lintel set back within a recessed round arch stepping forward in three stages. A 19th-century panel over the lintel records the dedication of the church in Latin. Nook-shafts with block capitals and abaci appear on the arch jambs, and the voussoirs are carved with chevron motif. A late 20th-century two-leaf studded timber door fills the entrance.

Recessed round-arched aisle windows with nook-shafts to the jambs occupy the second and third bays from the left. A pair of 15th-century Y-traceried Gothic windows with hood-moulds appears to the right, and a Gothic window divided into three lancet lights with hood-mould to the left. Triangular-headed windows, originally round-arched, divided into pairs of lancet lights with flanking nook-shafts appear in the triforium of the first and second bays; the remaining three inner bays have 15th-century lancet windows. Round-arched windows in the clerestory sit set back above, except for the two bays to the right which have later segmental-headed windows. A pair of gableted buttresses flanks the tower on the outer right, with an arrowslit window centred above and two smaller ones above to the left. A louvred lancet window occupies the upper stage, and a timber clock with cornice sits below.

Interior

Six massive circular-plan piers support round arches of the nave arcade on both sides, except for a 15th-century composite pier to the northwest and a composite seventh pier to the southwest. The piers have square plinths and scalloped capitals. The two easternmost piers on each side are carved with chevron and spiral motifs. The stepped voussoirs have three orders with outer billet moulding.

Round-arched triforium windows have an inner order comprising a moulded arch supported on shafts with block capitals, with a string course at cill level. Round-arched clerestory windows are supported on nook-shafts with block capitals.

The aisles have groin vaults—those to the south rebuilt in 1620-21 as dated on the bosses, and the two westernmost of the north aisle rebuilt in the 15th century. Triple clustered shafts with scalloped capitals support the ribs on the outer walls. Recessed aisle windows step forward in two stages with nook-shafts having block capitals on the jambs. The round-arched voussoirs are decorated with chevron motif. A blind triple-arched arcade supported on shafts with cubical capitals, some with fishscale decoration, appears in each bay below. The inner shafts are paired, and chevron motifs decorate the voussoirs.

A turnpike staircase to the belfry is located in the south wall of the northwest bay, dating from the 15th century. A flat timber roof from 1845-48 features braces springing from corbels. A stone rood screen base stands to the east of the nave. A painting of four apostles decorates the vault of the easternmost bay of the north aisle.

The majority of stained glass windows are by James Ballantine and Son from the 1870s and 1880s, including the west window of the nave depicting William Wallace, Malcolm Canmore, St Margaret, and Robert the Bruce from a design by Noel Paton. Armorial windows in the north aisle are by Conway Halkett and Isobel Goudie. A memorial window in the south aisle to William Carnegie and Margaret Morrison, parents of Andrew Carnegie, is by Douglas Strachan circa 1915, and one to Queen Annabella Drummond dates from 1863. A depiction of Christ blessing children at the west end of the south aisle is by Henry Holiday, 1909-10.

Various monuments include an ornate classical memorial erected in the northwest bay by Anne of Denmark to William Schaw, Master of Works to James VI (1602). On the north wall, an earlier 19th-century tablet to George Durie and his family is enclosed within an ogee-arched Gothick frame above a 16th-century stone slab to Henry Durie. A red sandstone memorial to Robert Pitcairn with pilasters and thistle-finialled pediment dates from 1584. On the south wall stands the South African War Memorial by Steward and McGlashan and Son from a design by W W Robertson (1903).