LEUCHARS CHURCH, Fifeshire.
Situated four and a half miles from St. Andrews, and one mile from Leuchars Railway Junction, this church, like that of Dalmeny, forms one of the best-preserved examples of our parish churches of the Norman period. Though not complete, like Dalmeny, the choir and apse of Leuchars, which alone remain, are even more richly decorated with the
Fig. 263.—Leuchars Church. Plan.
characteristic ornaments of the style than the former. As usual, the church is without aisles.
It is scarcely possible to ascertain the date of these early structures, but we find from the registry of the Priory of St. Andrews that the Ecclesia de Lochres existed in the year 1187. There are letters by Orabile, Countess of Mar, attesting that she was present when her father,
Fig. 264.—Leuchars Church. View from North-East.
Nes, the son of William, gave the Church of Leuchars, in Fife (Lochres), to the Canons of St. Andrews, 1171-1199.
Orabile was married to Robert de Quinci. Between 1210 and 1219 Syer de Quinci, Earl of Winchester, gave to the Canons of St. Andrews three merks of silver yearly from his mill of Leuchars for the souls of his
Fig. 265.—Leuchars Church. 1. Details of Apse. 2. Details of Choir. 3. Corbel in Apse.
grandfather and grandmother, of his father, Robert de Quinci, and his mother, Orabile.[172]
The church ([Fig. 263]) now consists of a choir, 19 feet 9 inches long by 18 feet wide, with a circular apse, 12 feet 6 inches wide and 12 feet deep. There are traces of an arch at the west end of the choir, which opened into the nave; but the latter is now rebuilt.
Fig. 266.—Leuchars Church. Interior of Apse.
The general view ([Fig. 264]) shows the exterior of the semi-circular apse, with its arcade of two stories, the shafts of the upper tier resting on the arches of the lower one, and all the shafts bearing cushion caps. Those of the lower story are double shafts, and those of the upper story are double
Fig. 267.—Leuchars Church. Exterior of Choir, &c.
shafts, with a broad fillet between them. All the arches are enriched with chevron and billet mouldings, and the upper tier has an extra order of elaborate billet-work. The string course between the two arcades is carved with zig-zags ([Fig. 265]). The cornice is supported on a series of boldly-carved grotesque heads, all varying in design.
On the top of the apse vault there has been built, in the seventeenth century, an incongruous turret, which, although not of bad design, is extremely out of place. To support this belfry, a plain arch has been introduced in the interior amongst the Norman work of the apse. ([Fig. 266.])
The design of the exterior of the choir ([Fig. 267]) is similar to that of the apse, there being two arcades, one above the other, surmounted by a cornice, with corbels carved as grotesque heads. The lower arcade, however, has interlacing arches (see [Fig. 265.]), which indicate a late period of the style. The two arcades are separated by a string course, enriched with scroll floral ornament.
In the interior (see [Fig. 266.]) attention is drawn to the elaborate carving of the chancel arch, which has two orders of complex chevron ornament, and an outer order or hood mould of four rows of billets. The soffit of the arch is also enriched with chevrons, so arranged as to form a row of lozenge ornaments in the centre. The chancel arch is carried on a central attached shaft and two plain nook shafts, built in courses, with simple cushion caps and plain bases.
The chancel is vaulted with heavy moulded groins, springing from the cushion caps of short single shafts resting on grotesque heads. (See [Fig. 265.]) A small window is introduced in each of the divisions formed by the shafts, and each window has a pair of nook shafts in the interior and enriched arch above. The lower part of the apse is plain, and is separated from the upper part by a string course, enriched with faceted ornaments.