The nave has three round arches (see Figs. 383 and 384) opening into the north aisle. These arches spring from circular pillars and responds, which have caps of apparently Norman design. They are much decayed, but the ornament has some resemblance to that of the caps in the chapter house and high aisle of the cathedral. The arches are now built up, but the mouldings seem to correspond with those of the chancel arch. The doorway from the cloister, in the south-west angle of the church, has two nook shafts supporting a round arch.
Fig. 382.—The Nunnery, Iona. Arch Mouldings of Chancel Arch at A on plan.
The most of the above portions of the structure appear to belong to the transition period, and were probably erected soon after the convent was founded. The choir and sacristy are undoubtedly original, but the nave and aisle and upper part of the structure appear to have been rebuilt, probably at a late date. The upper part of the nave is of an undefined character. The small windows have round arches, and might be transition work; but they are placed over the piers, not over the arches, as was invariably the case in early buildings.
The west wall is very plain. It has a tall round-headed window on the church level, with a string course stepped over it, and a small window is introduced in the gable, which might be of almost any period. A series of corbels occurs in the south-west wall over the doorway. They are carved with grotesque heads, and appear to have supported a wooden floor—perhaps an organ gallery. There has been a doorway in the north wall of the aisle. It had two nook shafts, but it has now almost disappeared. A portion of a cross wall is visible in the aisle, with what may have been the seat of an altar against it.
Within recent years considerable excavations and repairs have been
Fig. 383.—The Nunnery, Iona. View from South-East.