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You would be forgiven for thinking that the beautiful architecture represented here had been carved from stone centuries ago. Instead, this is a mural, recently unveiled at St Drostan’s church in Markinch, Fife, that has been created as a faithful depiction of the Norman arch that mostly still lies hidden within the later post-Reformation walls.
This long-lost medieval feature was rediscovered around ten years ago, when a ceiling suffering from dry rot was removed, revealing evidence of the arch’s existence. The local community and professional archaeologists sought permission to excavate behind the wall, recovering remains that allowed the team to build a picture of how the arch would have looked. It is thought to date to around 1125, and to have been damaged following the Reformation.
Further insights into the church’s early fabric have come from a wider research project, culminating in a report written by Bruce Manson of the Markinch Heritage Group, which conducted a full survey of the church’s surviving 12th-century tower (above). This work has also attempted an artistic reconstruction of the medieval nave and chancel (below), for which only the gables remain. The archaeology is revealing new insights into the local influence of the MacDuff family, the premier earldom of Scotland, who may have had a hand in the construction of the 12th-century church.
Painted by artist Donna Forrester, the mural is intended as a teaching tool that will help visitors to learn about the history of the building, and has already been used in outreach sessions with local children. It is intended to represent the great western arch on the day that it was completed by the masons, before any limewash or decoration were added.
For more information about the history of the church and the research being conducted on it, please visit: http://www.markinchheritage.org.uk.
Text: Rebecca Preedy / Images: Bruce Manson, Bob Marshall, Markinch Heritage Group
