Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1
chain running down its western side and the Moorfoots defining its boundary with the
Borders to the south. hough predominantly rural, it contains a belt of former mining
communities that are struggling to come to terms with the recent decline of the
industry. Such charms as it has are mostly low-key, with the exception of the riotously
ornate chapel at
Roslin
. An otherwise nondescript place, the village has two unusual
claims to fame: it was near here, at the Roslin Institute, that the
world's first cloned
sheep
, Dolly, was created in 1997; and it's home to the mysterious, richly decorated
late Gothic
Rosslyn Chapel
.
Rosslyn Chapel
Chapel Loan, Roslin, 7 miles south of Edinburgh just off the A701 • April-Sept Mon-Sat 9.30am-6pm, Sun noon-4.45pm; Oct-March
Mon-Sat 9.30am-4.30pm, Sun noon-4.45pm • £9 •
T
0131 440 2159,
W
rosslynchapel.org.uk • Bus #15 (every 30min; 40min)
westbound from Princes St in Edinburgh
Revered for its sublime
stone carvings
- some of the finest in the world - and subject
of intrigue and mystery with its alleged crusader connections, Rosslyn is more
cathedral-like than chapel in its dimensions. It was intended to be a huge collegiate
church dedicated to St Matthew, but construction halted soon after the founder's death
in 1484, and the vestry built onto the facade nearly four hundred years later is the sole
subsequent addition. After a long period of neglect, a massive fifteen-year restoration
project has just been completed.
Rosslyn's
exterior
bristles with pinnacles, gargoyles, flying buttresses and canopies,
while
inside
the stonework is, if anything, even more intricate. he
foliage carving
is
particularly outstanding, with botanically accurate depictions of over a dozen different
leaves and plants. Among them are cacti and Indian corn, compounding the legend
that the founder's grandfather, the daring sea adventurer Prince Henry of Orkney, did
indeed set foot in the New World a century before Columbus. he rich and subtle
figurative sculptures
have given Rosslyn the nickname of “a Bible in stone”, though
they're more allegorical than literal, with portrayals of the Dance of Death, the Seven
Acts of Mercy and the Seven Deadly Sins.
LEGENDS OF ROSSLYN CHAPEL
Rosslyn Chapel is famous for its exquisite carvings - but almost as compelling are the
fascinating
legends
associated with this mysterious building, and the many secrets said to
lurk within the cracks and crannies of its skilfully engraved stone.
The greatest and most original carving to grace Rosslyn Chapel is the extraordinary knotted
Apprentice Pillar
at the southeastern corner of the Lady Chapel. According to local legend, the
pillar was carved by an apprentice during the absence of the master mason, who
killed
him in a
fit of jealousy on seeing the finished work. A tiny head of a man with a slashed forehead, set at
the apex of the ceiling at the far northwestern corner of the building, is popularly supposed to
represent the apprentice, his murderer the corresponding head at the opposite side.
The imagery of carvings such as the floriated
cross and five-pointed star
, together with the
history of the family, the St Clairs of Rosslyn, which owns the chapel, leave little doubt about its
links to the
Knights Templar
and
Freemasonry
. Two members of the St Clair family, for
example, were allegedly grand masters of the Prieuré de Sion, the shadowy order linked to the
Templars, while the Masonic connection was said to have saved the chapel from the armies of
Oliver Cromwell, himself a Freemason, which destroyed the surrounding area but spared Rosslyn.
More intriguing still are claims that, because of such connections, Rosslyn Chapel has been
the repository for items such as the lost Scrolls of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, the true
Stone of Scone and, most famously, the
Holy Grail
.
The chapel is regularly drawn into conspiracy theories on these themes, most famously in
recent years through Dan Brown's bestseller
The Da Vinci Code
; the chapel's appearance in
the film of the same name precipitated a huge surge in visitor numbers, detracting a little from
the mysterious air of the place.
