This edifice is, in part, a good example of the Scottish decorated period. The nave is the earliest part of the structure, and, from its history and style, it would appear to have been erected before the middle of the fifteenth century. The choir is of somewhat later date. These two portions were separated by an arch, which was removed about 1814, when the choir was cut off by a wall from the nave, and converted into a church with galleries. At that time, too, the present plaster ceiling of nave and choir (in the form of groined vaulting) was substituted for the open oaken roof which was formerly visible. The original stone vaulting of the side aisles, however, still extends round the whole building. The plaster groining of the apse was introduced at the above period. Otherwise, the structure has been little altered in its leading features.
St. Michael’s ([Fig. 856]) consists of a choir, 53 feet from east to west, by 65 feet from north to south, including two aisles, and a three-sided apse at the east end; a nave, 95 feet in length by 65 feet in width, including two aisles; two chapels inserted in the place (on the north and south)
Fig. 856.—St. Michael’s Parish Church. Plan.
usually occupied by the transept; a square tower at the west end; and a south porch giving access to the nave.
From the style of the architecture, we have no hesitation in deciding that the nave is the oldest part of the structure. The simple section of the piers ([Fig. 857]), and their moulded caps, with circular abaci and characteristic bases ([Fig. 858]), together with the elegantly pointed arch mouldings, with their wide and effective spans, are all strongly allied to decorated work. The corresponding features in the choir ([Fig. 859]) are somewhat similar to those of the nave, but the details, especially the caps and bases of the piers, with their long, straight mouldings, are of a later character, and recall those of the east end of St. Giles’ Cathedral erected after the middle of the fifteenth century.
