ravine on the east; so that, like most churches bearing the name of St. Michael, it stands on a height. The building, as will be seen from the Plan (Fig. [1444]) and the view (Fig. [1445]), is still in a fair state of preservation, although it is quite evident, on the spot, that the trees which crowd the inside (but which are not shown on the sketch) will soon work the destruction of the walls. One great trunk has half obtruded itself into the heart of the wall at the doorway, and has so burst the wall that the doorway and the whole of the south-west corner will probably soon come to the ground. Another tree has toppled over the upper stone of the belfry, which lies not yet broken to pieces.
The church is finely built, and is well worth some little attention. It is of small dimensions, measuring on the outside 50 feet 5 inches by
Fig. 1445.—Cambusmichael Church.
20 feet 6 inches, and on the inside 43 feet 10 inches by 15 feet. The doorway, which is in the usual place on the south side near the west end, is round-arched with a wide splay, and is built with large stones. There
Fig. 1446.—Cambusmichael Church. Centre Window.
were probably three windows, all on the south side. One adjoining the doorway is lost where the wall is ruined, and another at the east end has only the sill remaining. The centre window (Fig. [1446]) is complete; it is 5 inches wide with a slight chamfer on the edge, and with the opening on the inside splayed out to 3 feet 5 inches wide. An ambry occupies the usual position in the north wall. Both of the end walls have a set-off at the level of the eaves, as shown by Fig. [1445]. The projecting eaves course and this set-off coincide, and their splays are very simply worked out (see Fig. [1446]). The belfry on the west gable is a pre-Reformation example of a type which became very common in Presbyterian times. Below the belfry there is a small splayed slit with a segmental arched lintel. The east gable is terminated with a cross with a massive gableted base.
COUPAR ABBEY, Perthshire.[199]
Of this once great abbey almost nothing remains. The present parish church stands partly on the site of the monastic church, and the conventual buildings, with the cloister garth, occupied the ground which now forms the churchyard, at the south corner of which is the gateway with the