Documents

Where documents include maps, the use of this data is subject to terms and conditions (https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/termsandconditions).

The legal document available for download below constitutes the formal designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The additional details provided on this page are provided for information purposes only and do not form part of the designation. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within this additional information.

• Type

  Legal Documents

  Title

  SM13313_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600015939)

Summary

Description

The monument comprises the remains of Dunglass Collegiate Church, founded in the first half of the 15th century. It is visible as a roofed building comprising a nave, crossing and bell tower, transepts, chancel and sacristy. The church is situated in the landscaped grounds of Dunglass House on a grassy plateau overlooking the Dunglass Burn. The monument was originally scheduled in 1921, but the documentation did not meet modern standards: the present amendment rectifies this.

Dunglass Church is cruciform in plan. Its nave measures approximately 12m by 6m E-W and stands 9m high from ground to apex of the vault. The chancel to the E of the nave measures 10.5m by 5.75m, with the apex of the vaulted ceilings 7.3m above ground level. A square central tower surmounts the crossing. The tower would have contained three storeys beneath the wallhead, with the floor beams supported on projecting corbels. A doorway in the wall above the W arch of the crossing would have given access to the lower apartments of the tower. The tower is flanked by transepts to the N and S which measure 7m by 4.1m and are 6.8m high from ground to apex of the vault. A small, vaulted sacristy, measuring 4m by 7m with a height of 7.2m, opens onto the chancel through an archway in the N wall. The walls of the church are of pink-hued sandstone ashlar and the roofs of the nave, chancel and transepts are overlaid with stone slabs. Works carried out by the HM Office of Works revealed the N wall of the nave and indicated that the church had originally been rectangular in plan, comprising a nave and chancel, with the tower and transepts added later. The original chancel arch on the E side of the later tower is the only one of the four crossing arches with foliage caps and late Gothic mouldings.

There are three open doorways to the church: the priest's door entering the chancel from the S, and doorways in each of the lateral walls of the nave to the W of the transepts. These have semi-circular heads with roll mouldings. Two later lintelled doorways can be found on the E wall of the S transept and the W wall of the sacristy, although the latter has been blocked up. A pointed arch window pierces both the W gable of the nave and the E gable of the chancel. The latter has been widened to allow access to the building when it was converted for use as a stable and barn in the 18th century. The nave and the chancel are lit by traceried windows: two windows in the S wall and one between the sacristy and transept. Each face of the tower is pierced by a lancet window with a trefoil head. The carved stonework of Dunglass Collegiate Church is particularly fine. In the chancel, the triple sedilia on the S wall has cusped and crocketted ogee canopies, pinnacles and corbels carved with angels playing musical instruments, while the corbels of the tomb in the sacristy are carved with female heads.

The scheduled area extends 5m beyond the visible remains of Dunglass Collegiate Church and includes the remains described above and an area around the church in which evidence for its construction, use and abandonment is expected to survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map. The scheduling specifically excludes: any burial lairs where rights of burial still exist; 20th-century or later burial enclosures; the above-ground elements of the modern raised floors; the above-ground elements of all services and signage and footlights; and the top 200mm of all paths and gravelled areas to allow for their maintenance.

Statement of National Importance

The monument is of national importance as an upstanding collegiate church that can make a significant contribution to our understanding of medieval ecclesiastical foundations in the Lothians, medieval patronage and status, and medieval Christian liturgy. Apart from the hole in the E gable of the chancel, the monument survives in excellent condition and is a remarkably intact example of a Scottish medieval collegiate church. It represents an important component of both the medieval and contemporary landscapes. It retains a number of unusual features, including the sedilia and the carvings of female heads on the recessed tomb in the sacristy. In addition to the upstanding structure, there is high potential for the presence of buried archaeological remains that can provide information about the sequence of development of the church and its reuse. Burial deposits can also inform us about medieval Christian burial ritual and belief, while skeletal remains can provide evidence for health, diet, illness and cause of death. The loss of the monument would significantly diminish our ability to understand the form, character, architecture and decoration of medieval collegiate churches in lowland Scotland and their role in the expression of status.

References

Bibliography

About Scheduled Monuments

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Scheduling is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for monuments and archaeological sites of national importance as set out in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.

We schedule sites and monuments that are found to be of national importance using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Scheduled monument records provide an indication of the national importance of the scheduled monument which has been identified by the description and map. The description and map (see ‘legal documents’ above) showing the scheduled area is the designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The statement of national importance and additional information provided are supplementary and provided for general information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within the statement of national importance or additional information. These records are not definitive historical or archaeological accounts or a complete description of the monument(s).

The format of scheduled monument records has changed over time. Earlier records will usually be brief. Some information will not have been recorded and the map will not be to current standards. Even if what is described and what is mapped has changed, the monument is still scheduled.

Scheduled monument consent is required to carry out certain work, including repairs, to scheduled monuments. Applications for scheduled monument consent are made to us. We are happy to discuss your proposals with you before you apply and we do not charge for advice or consent. More information about consent and how to apply for it can be found on our website at www.historicenvironment.scot.

Find out more about scheduling and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.