Parish Kirk of the Holy Rude
“ane gud and sufficient queyr conformand to the body of the peroch kirk.”
The Kirk consists of a western tower, an aisled nave of five bays, crossing and transepts, an aisled choir of three bays, and a deep eastern apse. The total internal length is just short of 200 feet, making Holy Rude, with St. Giles’, Edinburgh, and St. John’s, Perth, one of the largest medieval burgh kirks still to be seen in Scotland.
External view of the apse
The oldest part of the building comprises the nave and the lower part of the tower, which date from a rebuilding of the early fifteenth century. The open timber roof of the nave is a survival almost unique in Scotland. Three chapels were subsequently built out beyond the nave aisles, and one of them, the vaulted Chapel of St. Andrew on the north side, erected by the Forresters of Garden in the early sixteenth century, is still intact.
The choir and apse were added in accordance with an agreement of 1507 by which the Town Council of Stirling undertook to build “ane gud and sufficient queyr conformand to the body of the peroch kirk.” Although somewhat coarse and clumsy in detail the work gives a magnificent impression of spaciousness and height.
Holy Rude: Interior looking East
The external view of the apse, with its tremendous buttresses and gabled summit, is unsurpassed in Scotland. The upper part of the tower was probably built at the same time as these additions. The crossing and transepts date from the renovation of 1936-39.
- Kirk of the Holy Rude is open to the public. Admission free.