Ruined Magnificence?

The Abertay Historical Society’s programme of online events continues on Wednesday April 14 with a virtual talk from Dr Bess Rhodes (St Andrews University) entitled Ruined Magnificence? St Andrews Cathedral after the Reformation, followed by a live Q&A session via Zoom.

In June 1559, Protestant activists descended on St Andrews Cathedral – determined “for reformation to be made”. They stripped the cathedral of its furnishings and made a bonfire of Catholic religious images. This moment marked the end of the cathedral’s role as Scotland’s largest and most important church, and an abrupt shift in religious practice within St Andrews. Yet it was far from the end of the story of the cathedral site.

The ruins of the cathedral church continued to fascinate later generations. Meanwhile, local residents made practical use of this substantial area of land. The abbey mills continued to operate into the 19th Century, dwellings were constructed in the old monastic precinct, and other sections of the site turned over to gardens and orchards.

However, this later period in the cathedral’s history has received limited attention from modern scholars. This free talk will suggest that, by overlooking St Andrews cathedral’s post-Reformation history, we miss out on a key element of the site’s story, which does much to explain the nature of the place we see today.

Dr Bess Rhodes is a research fellow with the interdisciplinary Open Virtual Worlds team at St Andrews University.

The lecture will be shared to those who have booked via video link in advance of the live Q&A session with Bess which takes place at 7pm.

To access the lecture and attend the Q&A session, please book a free place online via www.eventbrite.com/e/ruinedmagnificence-st-andrews-cathedral-afterthe-reformation-tickets-145677002837?aff=e

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Further information may be obtained from the society’s general secretary Matthew Jarron, by email at museum@dundee.ac.uk