Fig. 779.—Melrose Abbey. Doorway in South Transept.
The south chapels of the nave have apparently been added during the repairs of the earlier part of the fifteenth century. The forms of the flying buttresses (see [Fig. 766]), which extend beyond the outer wall of the chapels so as to comprise them, show that the restoration of this part of the nave is all part of one design; and the arms of Abbot Hunter ([Fig. 783]), which occur on the niche-corbel of the east buttress, indicate that these buttresses were probably executed towards the middle of the fifteenth century. The tracery in the windows of the south chapels would tend to confirm the belief that they belong to the decorated period, but for the fact that this feature cannot be fully relied on in Scotland as an index of date, tracery similar to this being sometimes used at a later time.
Fig. 780.—Melrose Abbey. Door Jamb in South Transept.
Fig. 781.—Melrose Abbey. Cornice under Gallery, inside South Window of Transept.
There is a distinct change in the design of the transepts from that of the nave, as if the former had been added to the latter at a later period.