St Andrews Cathedral, St Andrews

Start and end of several pilgrimage routes, St Andrews became a centre of devotion in the early Middle Ages, boosted by the royal St Margaret

Highlights

• Site of shrine to St Andrew
• Cathedral ruins
• Intact monastery tower
• Holy well

This small coastal town has been linked to St Andrew since the early years of Christianity in Scotland. The link is a direct one: the saint’s relics were said to reside in the St Andrews monastery and later cathedral.

Though mostly in ruins, the extent of this vast religious complex indicates the extent of pilgrimage to St Andrew’s shrine. This was also Scotland’s most important cathedral up until the Reformation, home of the country’s archbishop from 1472 to 1559. It is firmly back on the pilgrim map too, among several routes promoted by thewayofstandrews.com.

There are two alternative explanations for how the relics of St Andrew himself came to be here. The first records that the Greek monk St Regulus brought them here directly from Patras in Greece, sometime between the 4th and the 7th centuries. The second, more likely explanation is that the relics came from the reliquary crypt at Hexham in Northumberland. These relics were donated to St Acca, bishop of Hexham, during his trip to Rome in 692. St Acca was originally from Scotland, and after serving at Hexham for 23 years, returned to St Andrews in 732. The town was called Kilrymont at the time.

Despite the long history of veneration, there is nothing in the current ruins that directly connects us to the shrine. It was kept behind the high altar, probably a gold casket supported on a stone base. The cathedral’s relics were said to comprise three fingers, an upper arm bone, a kneecap, and a tooth of the Apostle. There is an enormous grave slab in the area where the shrine might have been kept, which has been shifted back to allow sight of three stone coffins that were kept underneath. The top of this slab was probably level with the cathedral’s floor.

The ruins now sit in what is effectively a town park, the ruins free to enter but with tickets for the visitor centre and tower. There are signs dotted around to help explain the layout of the buildings, which are in a surprisingly mixed state of repair. The best-preserved structure is St Rule’s Tower, which dates from the earliest building on the site, an 11th-century abbey. The main cathedral church dates from the 12th century onwards, but is in a far worse state of repair than the older tower.

A ticket from the visitor centre allows you to climb St Rule’s Tower, which has a spiral staircase to the summit, 33m above St Andrews. The tower was probably built by St Margaret, Queen of Scotland, to honour the relics of St Andrew. The tower’s name refers to St Regulus, the monk who brought the Apostle’s body here according to 12th-century legend. St Andrew was one of Christ’s 12 Apostles, the brother of St Peter. He is sometimes said to be the first to become an Apostle, since he had previously been a follower of St John the Baptist. He was recognised as patron saint of Scotland by the middle of the 10th century.

The visitor centre has one ancient carved tomb on display, the 8th-century St Andrews Sarcophagus. It is usually linked to Angus mac Fergus, a Pictish king, rather than a saint. He is said to be the king who gave shelter to St Regulus when he arrived with St Andrew’s relics, but their dates don’t seem to match. The tomb’s royal significance is seen in its biblical carvings of King David.

Several Protestants were burned outside the cathedral in the run-up to the Reformation, the first being Patrick Hamilton, a priest who married, in 1528. There is a prominent memorial to them in St Andrews on The Scores, in the public park in front of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club. Thirty years after Hamilton’s death, John Knox preached such an angry sermon in the nearby Holy Trinity church that the worshippers opted to go and trash the cathedral’s fittings. The cathedral was reduced to its current state by the year 1600.

There is another ruined church just outside the abbey walls, known as the Church of St Mary on the Rock, on the north-east side nearest the sea and the breakwater (turn right when you leave the park gate and follow the walls round). This is said to be 12th century, a building used by a Culdee community. This religious order consisted of secular monks or priests, unique to Ireland and Scotland. Some of the members were even married, a situation that gradually came to an end during the 12th century as the church was absorbed into full Catholic tradition.

The building might be on the site of the town’s first church, perhaps even the place where St Andrew’s relics originally rested. There is a holy well in the vicinity of the cathedral ruins. It is called Monks Well, and although full of rubbish when I visited, there was a small pool of water at the back of the little stone wellhouse. It is located in one of the outer cemeteries to the south of the ruins. Other wells are dotted about the complex, but are deep and covered with bars.

Directions

St Andrews Cathedral, A917, St Andrews KY16 9QL

www.historicenvironment.scot (search for St Andrews Cathedral)

W3W: dabbling.goes.kebabs

GPS: 56.3400N 2.7889W

The site is open Apr–Sep 9:30am–5:30pm, winter 10am–4pm, last entry 45 minutes before closing. Visitor centre and tower tickets: £6 adults, £4.80 concessions, £3.60 children. The martyrs’ monument outside the Royal & Ancient Golf Club is at GPS: 56.3433N 2.8008W.

To find Monks Well, leave the abbey through the main entrance and turn left, then left again through the large medieval gateway. Continue downhill, and the cemetery gates are on your left after 200m. The well is in the top left-hand corner.