When the trio of intrepid explorers said they were visiting Scotland at the end of January and they would be in Fife, then it gave me an opportunity to flex my tour guide hat!

St Andrews thought I, is steeped in visible history all over the place and with personal links for me too!

Yes this would be the perfect place to take @dreemsteem @samsmith1971 and @penderis, not to mention the drive from Kirkcaldy where they would pick me up through the Kingdom of Fife to the coastal town of St Andrews would be picturesque!

Today though we are going to focus solely on St Andrews Cathedral.

Some original ⛪️ history

St Rule’s Church was likely built around 1130, as the first place of worship in Scotland for the newly arrived Augustinian canons. This Continental reformed order supplanted the existing clergy.

St Andrews Cathedral is now under the stewardship of Historic Environment Scotland and all quotes are sourced from their information page on their website

The 33m tall St Rule’s Tower may have been a beacon for pilgrims heading for the shrine of St Andrew.

That picture shows the St Rule's Tower which is from the original church dating back to 1130. Can you imagine how old that is?

Do you see the metal fencing all over the place?

This is because parts of the ground are shifting and deemed unsafe. Remember this was the site of a church then cemetery and so there are many graves all around you, it is these which in places are unsafe to be standing on or near.

Fortunately for us when we visited the cathedral grounds were open. Unfortunately though there was no access to the visitor centre, St Rule's Tower, museum or toilets as they were all closed.

You can start to grasp the immense size of the Cathedral from that picture above.

Everywhere you looked you could see history crawling out from the stonework! And talking of stonework imagine building something like this without our modern tools and safety procedures!

Can you see the wee plaque on the wall?

This was the remnants of an under building that is on the cathedral grounds.

A pretty good life in those days, if indeed it was the home of the Prior who was the head of the cathedral Priory!

I think our intrepid travellers were quite taken with the history and the ambience of St Andrews Cathedral!

At one point we saw this long shaft in the ground, which thankfully was covered with a metal grid structure. I can imagine the heretics being thrown down here to rot!

Now though what do you think gets thrown down there?

☑️ If you said coins, then give yourself a pat on your back!

Although the Visitor Centre was closed, I was pleasantly surprised to see that were many informative signs and plaques all over the place. This one informing us that "THE PORCH AROUND THE MAIN LAY ENTRANCE TO THE CATHEDRAL WAS HERE".

In other words, that is where you and I would have entered the cathedral in days gone by!

Almost adjacent to the 'porch' were what appeared to be three long metal boxes of which two seemed to be padlocked shut.

One though was open ... so what did Indiana Jones do?

Open it of course!

The boxes are to preserve original floor tiling dating back from the 1200's. How fluffing amazing is that, looking at history like that right in front of your face!

It was a dull day as you can tell by the unedited gray pictures, which was not surprising really as it was January and winter in the UK, however the rain pretty much stayed away and our enthusiasm was not dampened as Pen displayed!

I am not so sure the local seagulls were impressed with us!

Okay Okay we cheated that was not the beach in the background. St Andrews is in the Kingdom of Fife and is on the coast and has a massive beach, however more of than on another day!

I mentioned previously about their being graves and they came in all stages throughout history, and included former ministers as you can see below.

Did you know that St Andrews is the home of golf? Now you do! There were then some golf themed headstones and memorials.

Dreemie even pointed out that she might have found an ancestor of Matilda!

Before we go, here are a few more shots to showcase this once great cathedral of ours!

The end was nigh

The cathedral and the Protestant Reformation
In 1559, John Knox preached a fiery sermon in St Andrews parish church, and the cathedral was ‘cleansed’ as a result. In 1561, it was abandoned and replaced by the parish church as the chief place of worship. St Rule’s was then left to fall into ruins.

It is quite crazy to think that as you wander through these grounds, the main ruins are 500 years old.

St Andrews Cathedral and St Mary's Church, Kirkheugh - Statement of Significance

Historic Environment Scotland Statements of Significance are documents outlining the history and development of Scotland's Properties in Care. They highlight the key features that make the properties special.

If you would to know more about the history of the site including learning about Túathalán who in the year 747 died. This is significant because he was the abbot of Kilrymont, and Kilrymont meant church of the king’s mount and the name would be come St Andrews. Saint Andrew is of course the patron Saint of Scotland.

I find history fascinating, don't you?

Download your free copy of the St Andrews Cathedral and St Mary's Church, Kirkheugh - Statement of Significance here. I found it a fascinating read, and gives you a great timeline from 747 onwards. Note the image is my screenshot of my copy that I downloaded.

My Advice...

Don't wait until you have out of town visitors visiting you, go and have a look around your own neighbourhood, you might be pleasantly surprised what you find and had forgotten about!