Abbey Named One of Scotland's Most Influential Buildings

Friday February 5

^{Dunfermline Abbey, with the 12th century nave on the left. Picture by Paul McIlroy, Creative Commons license}

Dunfermline Abbey has been named one of the nine most influential buildings in Scotland.

The 12^th century church in the historic capital of Scotland was chosen by experts for an STV feature marking the most important buildings in 6000 years of Scottish history.

The nave of the Abbey was the largest stone structure in north-west Europe when it was built. Richard Oram, Professor in Medieval and Environmental History of Stirling University, said it marked ‘an enormous step change in building scale and ambition'.

Professor Oram said: “The nave gives this incredible sense of overpowering majesty that the church would have presented to the public. You can trace back a lot of the sudden explosion in monumental church architecture to Dunfermline.”

The nave, now known locally as the Old Church, was built by David, son of Queen Margaret and Malcolm Canmore. It sits on the site of a Benedictine Abbey founded by Margaret during the previous century. The present parish church was built on to the east end of the nave in the 19^th century and contains the tomb of King Robert the Bruce.

STV asked three experts in archaeology, architecture and medieval history to select their most important buildings in Scotland, to mark the Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design. Other selections include the Skara Brae Neolithic village in Orkney, Threave Castle, the Old Royal High School in Edinburgh and Cumbernauld Town Centre.

You can view the complete list and vote for your favourite here.

Comments

There are currently no comments on this post

Add a reply

All fields are required. Email address will not be published.