Lofty Beginnings

Lofty Beginnings. St. Rule's Church. , St. Rule's Church was the forerunner to the great cathedral. built under Bishop Robert (1123-1159), its enormous tall tower drew pilgrims to the shrine of St. Andrew. , , The Tale of St Rule , According to legend, St Rule was a monk in Patras (Greece). Warned by an angel that Emperor Constantine was planning to take St Andrew's relics to Constantinople, St Rule fled with them across the sea. Finally he was shipwrecked at Muckross near St Andrews. , , The Relics of St Andrew , The relics were more probably brought here from England, by Bishop Acca. Formerly an abbot of St Andrews, he left his Hexham diocese in 732 and came back to Scotland. The relics consisted of three fingers of the right hand, the upper bone of an arm, a kneecap and a tooth. , , The Measure of St Rule's , The tower has architectural similarities with Wharram-le-Street Church in North Yorkshire. It is likely that the same master mason built them, especially as Bishop Robert, who built St Rule's, had connections with Wharram from earlier in his career. , , To enter the tower, please buy cathedral tickets from the visitor centre. (Turn around, go down the path and left, through the cloister). , , (captions) , Left: The church at Wharram-le Street in North Yorkshire. , , St Rule's Church as it may have looked around 1150. Originally the church ended at the tower, much as it survives today, but soon after its completion a nave was added so the tower sat in the middle. , , (bottom bar) , Left: the relics of St Andrew may have originally been put in a small reliquary similar to this one for St Columba. After the completion of the cathedral they were probably given a much larger, ornate shrine. , , Left: The chapter seal of St Andrew from 1160 clearly shows the tall tower of St Rule's Church.