The dioceses of Dunblane and Brechin were founded towards the close of the reign of David I. from the remains of the old Pictish bishopric of Abernethy, after numerous portions had been abstracted by St. Andrews.[40]
The town of Dunblane stands on the left bank of the Allan Water about four miles north of Stirling. The old town is small and consists of a single narrow street leading from the bridge over the Allan up to the platform on which the cathedral stands surrounded by its ancient churchyard. Indications of the age of many of the houses may be observed in the coats of arms inserted in their walls.
It is believed that St. Blane, in the seventh century, here founded a Columban establishment, which is said to have been an offshoot from Kingarth in Bute.[41] The bishopric was re-established by King David I. in 1150. The ancient square tower of the cathedral which still survives is a relic of the structure erected in the twelfth century. Nothing is known of the cathedral from that time till 1233, when Clement was appointed to the see. Finding everything connected with the bishopric in a neglected condition, he repaired to Rome and laid the case before the Pope, pointing out that the Columban monastery had fallen into lay hands, that the church was roofless and without a pastor, and that divine service was only occasionally performed. He succeeded in his appeal, and, in 1238, the Bishops of Glasgow and Dunkeld were appointed to settle matters between the Bishop of Dunblane and the Earl of Monteith who had raised certain claims. Clement died in 1258, after having re-established the bishopric, and, it is believed, partly, if not entirely, rebuilt the cathedral.
To judge from the style of the architecture, it is probably the case that the structure was at least begun by him, though the style indicates that it was not completed before the end of the thirteenth century.
This cathedral is one of our noblest structures, and situated as it is on the high east bank of the Allan, which here swells out into a broad
Fig. 508. Dunblane Cathedral. View from South-West.