Rosslyn Chapel, Near Edinburgh, Scotland
Home of an Intricate Apprentice Pillar and Featured in Da Vinci Code
Nov 4, 2008
The mediaeval chapel of Rosslyn was famed for the intricate carvings inside the building well before Dan Brown made the chapel the site of the denouement in his book. The Apprentice Pillar in particular is a fabulous piece of Masonic work , but all around the chapel there are carved figurines, all different and worth studying. High up in the arched roof there is further intricate tracery of carvings all over.
There were numerous books linking Rosslyn Chapel with the Knights Templar and the Freemasons even before Dan Brown hid the Holy Grail there in his book.
Legend of the Apprentice Pillar (also known as the ‘Prentice Pillar)
The spiral pillar to the right of the altar is known as the Apprentice Pillar. According to legend (described in An Illustrated Guide to Rosslyn Chapel, Tim Wallace-Murphy, 1993, p19), St Clair showed his master mason a model of an ornate pillar. The master mason was loath to start work until he had travelled to see the original in a foreign country. An apprentice saw how he should complete the work in a dream, and crafted the pillar seen today.
On his return the master mason demanded to know who had completed this while he was away. Hearing it was his own apprentice, he flew into a rage and struck the apprentice with his hammer, killing the apprentice, and causing the chapel to need reconciliation from the Pope because of the violence done inside.
Whether or not the legend is true, the Apprentice Pillar is a remarkable piece of work, with intricate leafy decoration spiralling round up the pillar.
Damaged by Restoration
In 1954 the stonework was cleaned and the surfaces sealed. Unfortunately though this was well-meaning, it was ill-advised. The stonework retained moisture from condensation in the cold and damp atmosphere, corroding some of the carving details. This is why from 1997 the roof has been covered with a steel covering, so that the stonework can dry out from the inside. This edifice remains in place, eventually the roof will be covered in lead rather than the impermeable covering installed in 1954. The fleur-de-lys carving photograph shows some of this erosion and delamination.
History
Remarkably, the building that can be seen was in fact only the beginning of a much larger planned structure that was never continued. Sir William St Clair founded it in 1446, his vision was of a larger cross-shaped building with a tower in the middle, and the chapel was to become the choir of the finished design. Sir William engaged fine craftsmen from abroad to work on his chapel and clearly was well off, paying his master mason £40 a year.
The St Clairs remained Catholics but the Scottish Reformation forced them to demolish the altars in 1592, and the Chapel was no longer used for prayer. However, the site remained in the St Clair family and in 1736 the roof, windows and floor were repaired by St James St Clair. In 1862 Rosslyn was rededicated and services began again.
Visiting Rosslyn Chapel
The chapel is a working church so it is worth checking ahead, see website under references. There is an extensive shop, which deals with tourist admission. The visitor pressure from the Da Vinci Code has increased the price of admission greatly, and perhaps has something to do with the blanket ban on photography inside, which was not the case in the early 1990s. The chapel is close Christmas Eve, Boxing Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
GPS location
55.855347N, 3.159814W
Rosslyn Chapel on Google Maps
References
An Illustrated Guide to Rosslyn Chapel, Tim Wallace-Murphy, 1993
Rosslyn (Guardian of the Secrets of the Holy Grail), Tim Wallace-Murphy & Marilyn Hopkins, Element Books, 1999
The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown, Bantam, 2003
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