east-lothian-1924/05-195

Transcription

[PRESTONPANS.] HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. -- [SALTOUN.

to her brother Richard in the same property.
(Inquis. Spec. Hadd. Nos. 339, 346).

ix. S.W. (Edin. iv.A S.W.) 4 May 1914.

MISCELLANEOUS.

161. Preston Cross.-This monument which
date from the early 17th century stands with-
in an enclosure some 400 yards north-east of
Prestonpans station (Frontispiece). It con-
sists of a drum masonry, from which rises
an oval sectioned shaft surmounted by a
unicorn supporting a cartouche. The drum
measures 14 feet in diameter across the parapet
by 12 feet in height. It is divided vertically into
eight panels or compartments by pilasters,
above which a moulded architrave, frieze and
cornice return round the structure ; each
compartment contains a niche with a semi-
circular head ; two of the niches form doorways,
of which one leads to a small domically vaulted
chamber at ground level, while from the other
a narrow stair ascends to a platform at cornice
level within the parapet. The other niches are
semicircular on plan and are provided with
sills forming seats, the heads being enriched
to resemble a scallop shell.
A moulded base returns along the structure
at ground level ; the horizontal members all
return at the pilaster projections. The pilasters
have moulded capitals, and over each a moulded
waterspout projects from the frieze ; beneath
each spout the architrave is enriched with
guttæ.
The parapet encircles a walk or platform and
is provided with a socket above every pilaster
to hold a flagstaff. The shaft rises from a
plinth and has a moulded necking, above which
there is an acanthus ornament and a rect-
angular capital enriched with egg-and-dart
motif. The unicorn is crowned at the throat.
The cartouche bears the lion rampant.
The monument is in good preservation.
MOULDED AND CARVED DETAILS.-Some 30
feet to the east of the Cross is a circular sand-
stone shaft 2 feet 2 inches in diameter and 3 feet
in height, built in two stones. The upper por-
tion displays in relief at four points of the peri-
meter an oval above a wreath. The workman-
ship and design are crude.
The moulded circular base, 6 1/2 inches thick,
lies beside the shaft. The mouldings resemble

106

those of the base on the Cross and are probably
derived therefrom. The fragment dates from
the early 17th century.

ix. N.W. 18 June 1919.

SALTOUN.

ECCLESIASTICAL STRUCTURE.

162. Chapel, Herdmanston.-Within the
grounds of Herdmanston House (No. 163)
on the south bank of the Tyne four miles
south-south-west of Haddington, is a vaulted
structure apparently the western portion of
a chapel (fig. 155). The building is oblong
and is orientated, measuring externally 36
feet 3 inches by 21 feet. A cross wall
footing within suggests the demarcation of the
sanctuary and that the structure was continued
farther eastwards, the

[illustration inserted]
FIG. 155.-Herdmanston
Chapel (No. 162).

east gable being com-
paratively modern.
Interiorly the structure
is 14 feet wide, 24 1/2 feet
long to the footing and
31 3/4 feet to the west
gable. A small window
in the west wall with a
daylight of 1 foot 10 inches has an obtusely
pointed head and interiorly a shouldered scoin-
son arch. A smaller window is set in the south
wall. A semicircular barrel vault with an
extreme height of 10 1/2 feet ceils the structure
and is covered with a wooden roof. The detail
of the west window suggests that the structure
belongs to the 13th century, but there are no
other features to corroborate this.
STOUP.-Against the north wall is a fine 12th
century stoup of freestone, originally engaged
and projecting from a wall. On four engaged
shafts, terminating in moulded bases of flat-
tened section, which follow the contour of the
shafts, is a block carved as a multi-cubical
capital with rectangular abacus ; the top
is hollowed into a basin 6 inches deep and
roughly circular in form with a diameter of
1 foot 2 inches. The shafts have projected 1
foot 4 inches from the wall face and are 6 inches
in diameter. The base is 7 inches high; above
this the shafts rise 1 foot 5 inches and terminate
at the necking of the capital. The total height
of the stoup is 2 feet 11 inches, and the dia-