Tues 17 Sept 2024
Today we explore the village of Roslin, Rosslyn Chapel, and the picturesque Roslin Glen Country Park.
We start with a tour of the Rosslyn Chapel complete with a talk about some of its history and features. No photos are allowed inside the chapel but there is a Rosslyn Chapel App that takes you on virtual tour of the inside if you are interested in seeing more.
Rosslyn Chapel was founded by Sir William St Clair in 1446 as a family chapel. He had grand plans for a huge cross-shaped building that could be seen from Edinburgh but it was incomplete when he died. His son roofed the choir with its stone vault but did not complete his father’s original design – it remained just the top part of the cross. It was a family chapel, so they were able to resist the efforts of the Scottish Reformation in the 16th century to ban Catholicism for a some time, but Catholic worship stopped in 1560. The chapel’s altars were destroyed in 1592, and the chapel was abandoned, gradually falling into decay.
In 1842 the chapel, then in a ruined and overgrown state, was visited by Queen Victoria, who expressed a desire that it should be preserved. Restoration work was carried out in 1862 and the chapel was rededicated on 22 April 1862 (as a Scottish Episcopal Church).
In the 1950’s further conservation work was undertaken. The roof was repaired, stained glass windows added, and the interior carvings in the Chapel were cleaned and applied with a protective (concrete) coating. Although in line with the thinking of the time, the protective coating unfortunately sealed in moisture and ultimately caused more damage to the walls and carvings. No one has yet found a way to remove it without causing further damage. You can get small glimpses of the rich red colour that stone was originally underneath the concrete coating.
There a lot of mystery around the chapel, about what and who might be buried in its pillars and crypts. The underground vaults remain sealed so many of the mysteries will remain for some time to come. It is even said that the Holy Grail (the chalice) is encased within one of the pillars but permission will not be given for it to be x-rayed.
Since the late 1980s, the chapel has been the subject of speculative theories concerning a connection with the Knights Templar and the Holy Grail, and Freemasonry. It was featured in this role in Dan Brown’s novel The Da Vinci Code (and its film adaptation). Medieval historians say these accounts have no basis in fact.
There are lots of fascinating carvings throughout the chapel, from depictions of people to exotic animals such as camels and plants such aloe vera and maize. There are carvings inside and out of the Green Man, representing nature and fertility. Also shown are 2 panels showing the Seven Acts of Mercy and the Seven Deadly Sins – but Greed appears within the Virtues and Charity within the Sins, and nobody knows if this was a simple mistake or suggests something more.
At the front of the chapel are two pillars: the Mason’s Pillar and the Apprentice Pillar (a much more elaborate design). We are told that the master mason went off to study carving around the world and while he was away, his apprentice got permission to make a carving inspired by a dream. On his return, the master mason flew into a jealous rage and killed the apprentice.
Rosslyn Chapel is set within the beautiful Roslin Glen Country Park where there are lots of lovely walks. We walk first to see the old Rosslyn Castle not far from the chapel along with a house that is rented out. Nearer the chapel is The Old Rosslyn Inn that has been visited by many esteemed guests over the years, including King Edward VII (as Prince of Wales), Robbie Burns, and William Wordsworth.
There are very steep slopes that drop away down into the glen and with the amount of rain they have had this summer the tracks are very muddy and slippery. So we decide to drive down later to the bottom of the glen and do some walks from there. We walk back to the house via some wooded paths and through some farmland owned by Edinburgh University that were previously part of the old Roslin Bio Institute site and where Dolly the sheep grazed.
After lunch we drive down into Roslin Glen for a walk along the river to the site of the old Gunpowder Mill. Along the way we see the gunpowder storehouses that were set into the cliffs so that any explosion would just blow into the valley. The ruins of the mill and the water races can be seen down by the river.
The weather is so nice today that Andrew offers to take me for a drive in their Morgan sports car – in case we don’t get another sunny day. Doreen lends me her driving jacket and a jaunty hat so I feel quite the part as we tour around the Pentland Hills and round a few of the towns in the Scottish Borders region. The car can be operated in automatic as a touring car or changed to manual for a different driving experience. We stayed cruising but Andrew did demonstrate how quickly we could get up to the speed limit (60 mph).
Doreen had prepared another lovely dinner while we were out, so I felt very well looked after.
Scotland Short Break (Day 1)
Day 2: Around Roslin Village – this post
Day 3: Edinburgh Walking Tour
Day 4: Peebles, Scottish Borders
Day 5: Falkland Palace, Kingdom of Fife
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