St Rules

St Rules, St Andrews

There appears to be no evidence that the current St Rule church was begun only in the period 1125 to 1144 as is religiously claimed. This would have given it a lifespan of only some 20-30 years before being superceded by the new cathedral commenced in the 1160s. In 1144 Bishop Robert (1140/44-60) endowed a priory of regular canons of St Augustin at St Andrews after an abortive foundation attempt by King Alexander I (1107-24). In 1147 Pope Eugenius III confirmed St Andrews with the ring and mitre as symbols of episcopacy.

The first church of St Rule was allegedly built for St Regulus, a legendary monk said to have fled Greece at some point between 345AD and 845AD with some bones of St Andrew (3 fingers, an arm bone, a kneecap and a tooth). This story, apparently written in the fourteenth century in the lost Register of St Andrew's priory, contains many errors and confusions, not least that there was an Emperor Constantius living at this time. On reaching Fife the saint is said to have been greeted at St Andrews, then known as Kilrymont, by King Oengus I of the Picts (732-61). Another account, surviving in the sixteenth century Aberdeen Breviary, states that the fictional Emperor Constantius invaded Patras, but this time in 860AD. Again this led to Regulus fleeing with portions of St Andrew to the western regions of the world to found a church in honour of the Apostle. Quite obviously these tales have no historical validity, while the legend of St Andrew states that in 337 his body with those of St Luke and St Timothy were transferred form Patras to Constantinople in the time of Constantine the Great (d.337).
Despite all of this, it is possible that it was King Oengus (732-61) who was responsible for founding the church and was buried there in a fine sarcophagus which was rediscovered in 1833. What little early history there is suggests that St Andrews was founded before 747AD when the annals of Tighernac record the death of an Abbot Tuathalan of Kilrymont, the old name for the district around St Andrews. In 877 King Constantine MacCinaeda built a new church for the Culdees at St Andrews before being captured and executed by the Vikings. This suggests 2 churches standing at this time, possibly St Mary on the Rock and St Rule. Further, it is possible that Hexham, founded in 674 by St Wilfred, was mother house to St Rule and it was from Hexham that the supposed relics of St Andrew were obtained. That this occurred around 732/736 is strengthened as Bishop Acca (d.740) was forced to flee abroad from Hexham in 732 and founded a bishopric amongst the Picts. The logical conclusion, as Whithorn had been founded earlier, is that the head church of this bishopric was St Andrews. This would further account for the founder arriving with various alleged relics of St Andrew, the patron saint of Acca and Hexham, as well as the particular respect given by later Scottish monarchs to Hexham abbey, viz the charters of David I (1124-53) and his son Earl Henry (d.1152).

A further confusion with the foundation of St Andrews is found in the ninth century Festology of Angus the Culdee. This states that St Kenneth (Cainich) had his principal church at Achaboe (Aghaboe in Kilkenny) as well as another at Kilrymont in Alba. Kenneth died in 600, but his church in Kilrymont seems not to have been at St Andrews, by at Kennoway (Kennoquhy) some 20 miles from the city. Of this nothing remains.

In 906 St Andrews became the seat of the bishop of Alba, while in 943 the abdicated King Constantine II (900-43, d.952) is claimed to have become abbot of the Culdee monastery there. In 1144 Bishop Robert (1140/44-60) endowed a priory of regular canons at St Andrews after an abortive foundation attempt by King Alexander I (1107-24). Soon afterwards in 1147, Pope Eugenius III confirmed St Andrews with the ring and mitre as symbols of episcopacy. By the reign of King Malcolm IV (1153-65) the population of St Andrew's burgh were described as Scottish, French, Fleming and English when the new cathedral was founded in 1161/62. St Rule continued to exist during this period and indeed survived to the end of the middle ages, although it was overshaddowed in more ways than one by the new, neighbouring cathedral.

Description

The church of St Rule originally stood as a tall, narrow building with, running from west to east, nave, tower, choir/chancel and an apsidal sanctuary. The nave with its 2 western turrets surrounding a possible narthex is now gone, as is the sanctuary, although they appear on the monastery seal. However, the 2 tower arches survive, with the much altered nave arch appearing to be of an older style than the choir one, its arch being almost horseshoe shaped rather than a semi-circle. South of the Scottish border this 25' high and nearly 9' wide arch might well be classified as ‘Anglo-Saxon', viz. Great Paxton. The St Rule nave was apparently about 12' wider than the tower at some 32' wide. The creasing for the roof suggests that the nave was originally some 40' high to the roof ridge. A sketch of 1838 shows the nave walls still standing above the 28' high string course around the tower.

On the east side of the tower the creasing of 3 choir roofs survive giving roof heights of between 35' and 45'. The choir is about 31' long and 25' broad and could be viewed from a doorway in the second floor of the tower, just like many ‘Anglo Saxon' churches south of the border, viz. Barnack, Brixworth, Deerhurst and Monkwearmouth, to name just a random few. Like the tower, St Rule's choir consists of a well dressed ashlar made of local grey sandstone blocks. In style the stones are much better fashioned than churches south of the current English border like Bywell St Peter, Escomb, Jarrow, Monkwearmouth etc. Perhaps the nearest to it in ashlar is Old Bewick. The sanctuary arch, like the arch linking the choir to the tower, is tall and well moulded. Presumably the minor fragments of St Andrew were kept in the apsidal sanctuary, which was small at only 20' wide and 26' long.

The tower itself is about 110' high and 20' square. Like the round towers of Ireland it was originally ascended using ladders, but a stone staircase was added in the 1700s. Other similar towers in Scotland can be found at Markinch in Fife, as well as Muthill, Dunning and Dunblane cathedral all in Perthshire. All also have similar Romanesque bell openings. Perhaps the 2 round Irish towers of Scotland at Abernethy and Brechin should also be mentioned in this context, although they lack bell openings and would seem therefore to have served different purposes.

Finally the surviving original windows in the choir should be noted. These 4 are simple, 6' by 2', Romanesque windows splayed deeply both within and without. They also have their external arches cut from monolithic blocks and are placed high up the wall some 12' above current ground level. Again south of the border such windows would generally be classed as Saxon.

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