
The Corpus of ROMANESQUE SCULPTURE in Britain & Ireland

Dunblane (medieval)
Parish church
In medieval records, Dunning appears most commonly as Donyng, Dunnyne, Dinnin, and Duning. The church there is dedicated to St Serf (Servanus), who legend states died at Dunning. Transformed in 1687 and substantially again about 1810, the nave appears as a large rectangle with an extension built off the north side. A 12th-century west tower and sections of the north wall, however, have been preserved. In the interior, a gallery runs around three sides of the nave, with a later pulpit (removed from another church) set up against the south wall. Nothing medieval, other than the tower, is visible on the interior walls of the present church. The east arch of the tower has a pointed arch, the top of which is hidden behing the nave gallery. According to Groome (1884), the tower arch had been 'bricked up and disfigured' and had, during 'recent repairs' been reopened and restored. Wilson (J. and W.) stated that this occurred in 1868 when other repairs on the church were undertaken. Medieval fragments, including a cushion capital, a section of carved chevron, and a slightly curved stone carved with four small arches, have been built into the south exterior of the nave. Excavations in 2013 showed that the original church was built at the same time as the tower, foundation stones on the north side coursing with those of the nave. The tower is divided on the exterior by three stringcourses, which divide the tower visually into three main levels plus a roof space. Each of the levels is a different height, the lowest much higher than the others. There are two simple lights on the west exterior, one at ground-floor level and the other at 1st-floor level, both of which splay inwards. The main upper level of the tower has twinned openings on each of the four sides. A number of additional openings appear on both the interior and exterior of the tower, some of which are likely to have been holes for scaffolding, while others are of a larger rectangular form. It has been suggested by some writers that the upper levels, on the exterior, are tapered. Whether this is correct, it is not obvious to the naked eye. Towards the west end of the north exterior of the nave is a 12th-century doorway, which has been blocked on the interior, and into the S exterior of the tower there is a later-inserted rectangular doorway. Scars on the E exterior of the tower provide evidence for an earlier, steeper nave roof. On the interior of the tower, in the SW corner, a spiral staircase leads to the upper levels.
In 2008, excavations uncovered part of a possible 8th-century vallum ditch. Later excavations, carried out between 2012 and 2014, found foundations of a building earlier than the tower, as well as evidence that when the tower was built, it's foundations disturbed previous graves.
Ruined parish church
The old church of Muthill survives in ruins. The W tower was built in the 12th century, which has carved work in two of the upper openings and on an exterior stringcourse. It has four external levels, each of the top two slightly narrower than the one below it, and has a crow-stepped roof facing east-west. According the MacGibbon and Ross (1896), the interior walls of the tower were 'plumb' and had 'neither corbels nor projecting courses to carry floors'. The remaining ruins of the main parts of the church come from reconstruction and alterations carried out in later centuries. As a result of these, the tower, which appears to have originally been free-standing, became enclosed on the north, east and south sides by the nave and aisles. The old church was condemned in 1825 and a new church begun on a different site in 1826. Access to the tower is through a doorway later inserted into the E face, but another doorway existed at some point in time on the W face, which was later blocked up. It is uncertain which of these is in the position where the original entrance point to the tower was located. Repair work was undertaken on the tower in the late-19th century and in the 20th century, especially on the upper exterior, where cracks had formed.
Cathedral church
The former cathedral church at Dunblane is built around an earlier tower, which appears to have been free-standing when first built. This tower has four 12th-century levels, each separated from the next by an exterior stringcourse. Above these are two further levels which were built in the late-15th/early-16th century. The tower was entered by a doorway on the north side, which has worn capitals, bases, label and imposts; the shafts no longer exist. The interior face of the doorway is plain, with a taller opening, it's arch formed of simple voussoirs. Inward from this and lower, is the N face of the doorway proper, with plain lintel stone and coursed stonework above it. The ground-floor level has a recess in the E wall, which may have served as an altar. The label arch over it is carved with a series of lozenges. Inserted into the ground-floor ceiling at some later time is a stone barrel vault. Access to the upper levels of the tower is via a spiral staircase in the interior SW corner. The top story of the 12th-century tower has an arched opening on each face. The outer, exterior arch of each is plain, but further into the depth of the arch are two smaller arches resting on a shaft and associated features. On the exterior, no other decorative features occur. Following the Reformation, although the eastern part of the church was preserved, along with the tower, the nave was allowed to became derelict, and by 1622 was said to be roofless. Restoration work and some reorganisation was undertaken on parts of the church structure in the early- and late- 19th century. During this time a wooden barrel vault was built over the nave and a new roof erected.
Round tower
The round tower stands in the SW section of the churchyard, isolated from the church. It is built of coursed dressed-ashlars on both the interior and exterior faces, with a change in stone type observable above the lower section. The only significant elements are on the exterior: the raised N doorway and the four window openings of the highest level. There are no stringcourses on the exterior face, except for that at the top of the structure, which appears to be of later date. Only a few small plain openings light the the lower interior levels. Gordon stated in his published itinerary of 1726 that the interior of the tower was 'hollow' like a 'deep draw well'. In a letter to his sister in 1760, Pococke reported that the tower had seven stories and that the internal 'floors extend to rather more than three quarters of the circle, the rope of the bell coming down by the open space'. With no stairway built into the interior, it seems that ladders were the only means of ascending the various levels. The N doorway, which inclines slightly towards the top is heavily weathered and shows no distinctive decoration, while the upper window openings have been covered with some sort of protective coating. In the Statistical Accounts of 1794, it was stated that the church, which stood a short distance NE of the tower, 'is remarkable for nothing but its antiquity' and that there was no record of when it was built. However, in Pococke's letter of 1760 he wrote that the church was small and had a door of 'the plainest Saxon architecture' (i.e. round-headed). He wrote that it was also believed that the 'great church' had been built to the NE of this, but no longer existed. The church which was still existent at that time was taken down in 1802 and a new church built north of it, apparently using stones from the earlier church. In 1821, excavations of the base of the tower discovered a skeleton and green urn buried inside the tower, below which were flagstones and more skeletons. Brash drew a section of the tower for his article of 1862, which showed six floors built onto the interior stone stringcourses, separating the tower into five main areas. There were, as well, a basement level and top parapet. Butler (1893) reported that the Earl of Home had introduced a spiral staircase into the tower so that visitors could climb to the top, and that some repair work had been undertaken. This would have required the removal of the previous floorings. The present metal spiral staircase fills the entire interior space. New stones from various repairs are evident in the stonework.
Graveyard and site of former church
In a graveyard, just south of a derelict mausoleum built in 1830, is a medieval gravestone, its long sides coped and carved with squared imbrication. The mausoleum is believed to be on the same site as an earlier church. This and the surrounding graveyard are sited at Overton in Tulliallan, in a wooded area called Windyhill. A new parish church was built on a different site in 1675-6, but this church, now called the ‘old church’, is itself a ruin and the present parish church, built in the the 19th century, is located in yet a different location. The Statiscal Account of 1794 described the early church at Windyhill as “very small, being only 36 feet in length, 16 in breadth, and 8 feet in height.” Between 1889 and 1892, the parish of Tulliallan was transferred from a detached part of the county of Perth to that of Fife, in which it remains.
Graveyard and site of former church
Only the old churchyard now survives, within which is a coped grave cover thought to date from the 12th century. Another medieval coped grave cover also exits within the same churchyard, but it is believed to date from a later period. A new parish church for Tillicoultry was built on a different site in 1773. Following this, the old church was taken down, though no specific record of this has been found and the exact site of the church is uncertain. The old churchyard is sited immediately SE of the former Tillicoultry House, built in the early 19th century and demolished about 1960. After 1644, ownership of the Tillicoultry estate changed hands several times. In 1814 it came into the hands of Wardlaw Ramsay family. Ultimately, the area was built up with new housing, leaving the old churchyard as an isolated patch of land.
Graveyard
It has long been held that the old church at Logie was dedicated to St Serf, but there is no clear evidence for the dedication. In 1683, the church had become 'very ruinous' (Logie, A Parish History, I, 125), so substantial works on both the interior and exterior of the church were undertaken. 'The presbytrie met on March, 1686, thereafter for dividing of the church lately rebuilt there' (Logie, A Parish History, I, 132). Further repairs were made in the 18thc. In 1762 a group of dissatisfied parishioners established a new church, which they built at Blair Logie, a few miles away. By the early 19thc, it was decided that the fabric of the old church of Logie was irreparable, and a replacement church for it was built in 1805, less than half a mile away. The graveyard of the old church continued to be used. The ruins of the church survive. Following a meeting in late 1870, the old churchyard was ‘adjusted’ and ‘improved’ (Logie, A Parish History, I, 303). SE of the church is an intact medieval grave monument, likely to be of Romanesque date. Another grave stone is also known to have existed. This may now be represented by the row of somewhat jumbled stones lying north-south nearby.