Everything about St Vigeans totally explained
St Vigeans is a small village and parish in
Angus,
Scotland. Originally rural, it's now more or less a suburb of the town of
Arbroath. The name St Vigeans is derived from
Vigeanus, a latinised form of the
Old Irish name Féichín.
Saint Feichin flourished in the
7th century. There is no record of his having visited what is now
Scotland, but followers of his cult may have founded a monastery among the
Picts at St Vigeans as early as the
8th century. This is shown by the unusual dedication, and especially by the collection of more than thirty elaborately carved stones preserved in the museum (converted from an old cottage) in the village (
Historic Scotland; no entrance charge, key from
Arbroath Abbey visitor centre). The collection includes cross-slabs, some with
Pictish symbols, cross fragments, recumbents, and architectural fragments. It is one of the largest and finest in
Scotland of its period, and includes stonework dating from the 8th-12th centuries. Most of the stones were recovered from the parish church, into whose walls they'd been incorporated as building rubble during the
Middle Ages, during
19th century 'restoration' work. Further fragments remain in the church's walls.
A monastic context for the St Vigeans' sculptures is suggested by some of the stones showing representations of clerics and patristic scenes. The so-called "
Drosten Stone" features a much-analyzed Hiberno-Saxon inscription.
The presence of a formerly important, but moribund or redundant, monastic establishment at St Vigeans may have led
William I of Scots to found the nearby Tironensian monastery of
Arbroath Abbey, the former monastery's lands being donated to the new foundation.
The church of St Vigeans served as parish church to the inhabitants of
Arbroath up to the
Reformation. Built of the local red sandstone, it was a large and impressive example of a Scottish medieval parish kirk. Its situation on top of a prominent, steep-sided mound (presumably of glacial origin, though doubtless 'improved' by landscaping) is striking. Dating in part from the
12th century, but largely
15th century in date, the church unfortunately underwent a drastic 'restoration' in the late
19th century which, while it uncovered many Pictish fragments, also replaced most of the original architectural features of the church. It retains its internal round-pillared arcades, but all the doors and windows were renewed, so their original appearance has been lost. The western tower was also heightened and 'improved' by adding a castellated top and cap-house. The
18th century headstones in the kirkyard, some of which are notably well-carved, are interesting examples of folk-art, characteristic of
Angus.
The old village of St Vigeans consisted of a single street of red sandstone cottages flanking the foot of the church mound. These have been attractively restored and are well maintained. The Brothock Burn runs past the village and so through
Arbroath (formerly Aberbrothock [andvariants]), and is crossed by a bridge of
17th century origin.
Further Information
Get more info on 'St Vigeans'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://st_vigeans.totallyexplained.com">St Vigeans Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
