Three or four corbels of the characteristic first pointed kind are preserved; one of these is shown in Fig. 692.
Fig. 692. The Abbey of Deer.
Corbel.
The only other wrought stone belonging to the church is a very peculiar one. It lies loose, and appears to have contained a double piscina—one having its basin supported by a projecting corbel in the ordinary manner, and the other with its basin and corbel turned upside down. Its construction will be understood from the sketch ([Fig. 693]). In the one basin, which may be called the upper, the aperture proceeds from a sprout at the back, and emerges in the centre of the lower basin. The upper basin is 7 inches deep and the lower 3½ inches. The other dimensions will be seen on the drawings, with sections of the respective corbels.
Adjoining the ruins is the Abbey Bridge, spanning the Ugie. It is a quaint structure, and may be partly as old as the remains of the conventual buildings; but it appears to have been repaired or partly rebuilt, as it contains the arms of James Keith of Bruxie, with the date 1718.
Fig. 693.—The Abbey of Deer. Piscina.