Cap in Cloister.
Fig. 491.—Holyrood Abbey.
Cap in cloister.
The main arcade of the nave ([Fig. 492]) has consisted of eight bays. Those of the south side still stand, but on the north side only two shattered piers survive. The piers are of the simplest form of clustered columns, each containing a three-quarter round shaft on the four cardinal angles, with two nook shafts between. The shafts are all crowned with richly foliaged caps, having rounded abaci. The arch mouldings consist of rounds and hollows, all deeply marked. From the cap of the main pier springs a triple vaulting shaft, which runs up through the triforium and receives the springing of the vaulting ribs on plain bell-caps some feet below the string course under the clerestory. The triforium is divided into two arches in each bay by a single central shaft, springing from a corbel over the apex of each arch of the main arcade, and running up to the string course beneath the clerestory. This would appear to indicate that the vaulting was sex-partite, which view is confirmed by the direction in which the surviving portions of the groins point.
Fig. 492.—Holyrood Abbey. Interior of West End.