BRECHIN CATHEDRAL
BRECHIN, SCOTLAND
PAUL SCOTT
Brechin Cathedral is a small Scottish Cathedral – in fact, as we shall see, not a cathedral, and also sadly at the time of writing, not even functioning as a church. But it is very old and has a number of unique features which make it worth including in this collection. I have never visited Brechin, so this site contains a compilation of photographs taken by other people. Individually published photos are all acknowledged in the text. As well, many of the photos occur in groups where it is difficult to locate the owner. So, we use the initials [W] for Wikimedia, [TA] for Trip Advisor, [GSV] for Google Street View, and [Inst] for Instagram. These labels and names of contributers are included in the text, and then links to the groups along with further comments can be found in the Conclusion. I am grateful to all who have contributed to this website by making their photographs available for public use.
Below is given a list of navigation links for locations around the Cathedral. Reference to these is given throughout the text.
Sadly, Brechin Cathedral is now closed for visitors. The Church yard is open 9am – 4pm.
[Photo Credit: owlmum]
SATELLITE VIEW
Brechin Cathedral is attractively sited on an open patch of land with Skinners Burn to the South. Brechin township is a short walk north with a direct connection along Church Lane. But Church Lane is very ‘built up’ with no advance views of the Cathedral, so we shall make our initial approach coming from the west along Channonry Wynd.
As usual with these websites we shall use liturgical directions in which the chancel / sanctuary is oriented to the East (with a capital E), and other directions are allocated correspondingly. This will cause us no problems here, since the axis of the Cathedral is almost exactly geographically east – west, with the chancel to the east.
The satellite view shows us that this Cathedral has a simple nave, with a smaller chancel extending to the East. It has a large square tower at the Northwest corner, and unusually, a round tower at the Southwest corner. There is a North extending entry porch near the West end, and strangely uneven transepts, with the North transept being twice the size of the South transept, and having its gable parallel to the nave gable.
The Cathedral is surrounded by many gravestones placed in regular formation.
PLAN
Think of this as an old treasure map!! We shall enter the Cathedral by the North entry, and then move to the West end of the nave. In our exploration, we will then follow around the bounding walls of the Cathedral in a clockwise direction, finishing in the corner by the Round Tower, before having a quick look at the vestry in the ground floor of the Square Tower.
HISTORY
Wikipedia
Year Built: 13th Century
Address: Church Lane, Brechin Angus DD9 6JS, Scotland
Brechin Cathedral dates from the 13th century. As a congregation of the Church of Scotland, which is Presbyterian, the church is not technically a cathedral, in spite of its name.
It is in the Pointed style, but suffered maltreatment in 1806 at the hands of restorers, whose work was subsequently removed during the restoration completed in 1902. The western gable with its flamboyant window, Gothic door and massive square tower, parts of the (much truncated) choir, and the nave pillars and clerestory are all that is left of the original edifice. The modern stained glass in the chancel is reckoned amongst the finest in Scotland.
The cathedral is a category A listed building and the attached Round Tower is a scheduled monument.
Round Tower
Immediately adjoining the Cathedral to the Southwest stands the Round Tower, built about A.D. 1000. It is 86 ft.(26.21 m) high, has at the base a circumference of 50 ft.(15.3 m) and a diameter of 16 ft.(4.9 m), and is capped with a hexagonal spire of 18 ft.(5.5 m), added in the 14th century. This type of structure is somewhat common in Ireland, but the only Scottish examples are those at Brechin and Abernathy in Perthshire.
The quality of the masonry is superior to all but a very few of the Irish examples. The narrow single doorway, raised some feet above ground level in a manner common in these buildings, is also exceptionally fine. The door-surround is enriched with two bands of pellets, and the monolithic arch has a well-preserved representation of the Crucifixion. The slightly splayed sides of the doorway (also monolithic) have relief sculptures of ecclesiastics, one of them holding a crosier, the other a Tau-shaped staff.
Two monuments preserved within the Cathedral, the so-called ‘Brechin hogback’, and a cross-slab, ‘St. Mary’s Stone’ are further rare and important examples of Scottish 11th century stone sculpture. The hogback combines Celtic and Scandinavian motifs, and is the most complex known stone sculpture in the Ringerike style in Scotland. The inscribed St Mary’s Stone has a circular border round the central motif of the Virgin and Child which echoes that on the Round Tower.
Present
Between 1999 and 2009, Scott Rennie was minister of Brechin Cathedral.
In February 2020, the Presbytery of Angus agreed to a dissolution motion, under which ownership of Brechin Cathedral transferred to the General Trustees of the Church of Scotland, who would shut down and sell the building. Nonetheless, the Brechin 2020 committee planned to mark the 800th anniversary of the cathedral on 7 June 2020. In the event this proved impossible due to Covid restrictions.
The Cathedral closed its doors for the final time as a sanctified church at a special service on 28 November 2021.
Led by Caroline Carnegie, Duchess of Fife, a committee of Trustees has been established to take over accountability for the care and development of the Cathedral with a stated intent to restore it to being a focal point and hub for the community and tourists alike.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brechin_Cathedral
A very intersting detailed account of the Cathedral and its history can be found at:
https://www.churchservicesociety.org/sites/default/files/journals/1970-30-40.pdf
