Brechin

From Free net encyclopedia

For other uses, see Brechin (disambiguation).

Template:Infobox Scotland place with map The Royal Burgh of Brechin is a burgh in Angus, Scotland. The town is well known for its eleventh century round tower (Historic Scotland), one of only two of these Irish-style monuments surviving in Scotland. The tower was originally free-standing, but is now incorporated in Brechin Cathedral. The Cathedral has been much altered, but still contains medieval work of the 13th and 14th centuries, notable a handsome western tower and processional door. Traditionally Brechin has been considered a city because of its status as the seat of a pre-Reformation Roman Catholic diocese (which continues today as an episcopal seat of the Episcopal Church of Scotland), although the burgh lacks a city charter. The football club is still known as Brechin City. The 2001 census recorded Brechin's population as 7,199.

Also in or near the burgh is the Pictavia centre (covering Pictish culture and displaying several carved stones), a small museum in the former Town House, and a station on the Caledonian Railway (Brechin). Along with the Cathedral and round tower, part of the chapel of Brechin's Maison Dieu or hospital survives from the Middle Ages (Historic Scotland).

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Brechin Cathedral

Brechin owes its origins to the mediaeval Cathedral, the oldest building in the Burgh, and the Celtic monastery which preceded it.

The first recorded reference to a church in Brechin is when King Kenneth II of Scotland (971-995) gave ‘the great monastery of Brechin to the Lord’, endowing the monastic community with lands and having a church built. Brechin was the mother church of the provinces of Angus and Mearns, a centre from which the Culdee monks went out to minister to the local communities. However the St Mary’s Stone, dug up in a garden in the 18th century is thought to date from the 9th century. Two other stones, the Pictish Cross Slab and the Hogback also date from the 9th or 10th century. The Round Tower to which the Cathedral is attached dates from the 11th century, pre-dating it.

The present Cathedral had its origin in the founding of the Diocese of Brechin by the appointment of Bishop Samson by King David I in the mid 12th century. A new church or alterations in the Norman style were made to an existing church and it was not until from about 1225 that the Culdees and their Prior were replaced by a chapter of Canons and a small Cathedral built in the Gothic style. This, the present building, was completed over the next few centuries with the major work done in the 13th and 14th centuries. After the reformation the building was neglected but it is generally agreed that even greater damage was done during the reconstruction of 1806. At this time the chancel, being unused had fallen into disrepair and side chapels were demolished. A ceiling was put in the nave and galleries formed to house more worshippers. This latter problem was resolved when the building was restored to almost its original state (1900-1902). The Cathedral was originally dedicated to the Holy Trinity and this is commemorated in the Coat of Arms of the town which has a gold shield with three red rays converging at a point near the base

Image:Brechin, Cathedral and Round Tower.jpg

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Round Tower

The Round Tower represents the last remains of a Culdee college of the Celtic Church established on this site around 990 A.D. Although many similar towers are found in Ireland, the one at Brechin is the best preserved of the two on the Scottish mainland, the other being at Abernethy. It is of an Irish type of which the remains of eighty exist in Ireland. This is one of the finest and most elaborate of the whole series which was almost certainly built with an accompanying detached stone church by Irish masons around 1100 A.D. The present Cathedral, which incorporates the Round Tower to its south west, was built later, around the 13th centaury, with an additional connecting door being made at this time.

The Brechin Tower is 86 feet high and 15 feet wide at the base, tapering slightly upwards. Originally it would have had a conical cap but in the Middle Ages the present octagonal spire was added, adding another 20 feet to the height. It appears to have had six floors, has the typical elevated doorway to the west and windows at the top facing the four cardinal points.

It is often stated that these towers were built for defence; however it is generally considered that this is not the case (see Wikipedia Round Towers). As they were generally built in the vicinity of a church or monastery, it is more likely they would be built for religious purposes, being used to call people to prayer (as a minaret is) through the ringing of hand bells. They would also have been used for the storage of manuscripts and religious relics with refuge or a lookout point as a secondary purpose.

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