Rosslyn Chapel
Photos:
[Note: The material below has beentaken from various web sites, and its accuracy is not warranted.]
Perched on a gorge at the edge of the hauntingly beautiful Esk valley,
the 15th century chapel has been described as a cathedral in miniature
- a little bit of Chartres surreally transplanted to a Scottish
hillside.
Amongst the chapel's dazzling array of ornate carvings, New World
plants such as cacti and sweet corn feature prominently.
These were unknown in Europe before Columbus' discovery of America in
1492, yet scientists agree that the carvings predate this.
Devotees of Rosslyn provocatively assert that America was in fact
discovered by a Scotsman - Henry Sinclair of Roslin, grandfather of the
chapel's architect. There is a body of evidence backing up
this claim that in 1398 Sinclair crossed the Atlantic and landed in an
area he named Nova Scotia in honour of his beloved
Scotland. Henry Sinclair had strong links with the
mysterious group of warrior knights known as the Knights Templar, and
it is now known that Columbus sailed under the Templar
flag. Did the famous explorer have the benefit of Henry
Sinclair's charts when he set sail nearly 100 years later ?
Another mystery is why Rosslyn Chapel was not destroyed by Oliver
Cromwell. The Sinclairs were on the the Royalist side and
therefore enemies, but though the Roundheads destroyed the nearby
Rosslyn Castle, on Cromwell's instructions they did not touch the
chapel itself. As a Grand Master mason was he showing
respect for the building's many masonic symbols...or was he perhaps
privy to its secrets ?
Agnus Dei, the ancient symbol of Christ which was adopted as the seal
of the Knights Templar, some of whom lie in full battle armour in
Rosslyn's cavernous sealed crypt underneath the chapel. Sir
Walter Scott was moved to immortalize them in his poem The Lay of the
Last Minstrel, when he wrote of "that chapel proud, where Roslin's
chiefs uncoffined lie".
To appreciate Rosslyn fully you have to know about the Templars, who
were the architects and its inspiration. Named after the
Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem and formed in the 12th century,
allegedly to protect pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land. *(it is
now known that one of the knights swore allegiance to the Order twenty
years prior to the popular date quoted of 1118 as being the year the
Order was formed - it is also accepted that the 'families' forming this
Order were the instigators of the original formation of the Crusades in
1095 - one theory taking credence is that the 'Rex Deus' families
used this as an opportunity to regain their 'inheritance' that their
forbears had secreted under the Temple in its vast caverns prior to the
ransacking by the Romans in AD70. ......)*
Many claim that their true purpose was to excavate the foundations of
the Temple of Jerusalem to look for certain 'treasures and
knowledge'. Fueling the suspicion that they must have
found something, the Templars soon became incredibly rich and
powerful. Those who speculate that their 'treasure' lies
somewhere in Rosslyn Chapel's vast crypt support their claim by
pointing out that the floor plan is an exact scale replica of the floor
plan of Herod's Temple.
So powerful did the Templars become that soon they presented a threat
to both church and state. On Friday October 13th, 1307,
King Phillippe IV of France - with the blessing of the Pope (who was
under his control) - rounded up all known Templars. Accused
of blasphemy and heresy, they were tortured and burned at the
stake. Not all the Templars died. Their fleet
stationed at La Rochelle escaped - many to the west coast of Scotland,
where they were guaranteed safe haven since Robert the Bruce had
himself been excommunicated. These warrior monks were
literally the cavalry who rode in and turned the Battle of Bannockburn
in Bruce's favour guaranteeing victory and independence for Scotland.
It was William Sinclair, Henry's grandson, who in 1446 started work on
Rosslyn Chapel, employing the best stonemasons in Europe.
The resulting extravaganza of Christian, Pre-Christian, pagan and
Arabic symbolism has been described as the greatest example of medieval
architecture in Britain. One of the chapel's most
remarkable features is the Apprentice Pillar, symbolic of the Tree of
Life, with luxuriant carvings snaking down its length. Look
closely - around its base are eight winged serpents which have eaten
evil's forbidden fruit. Those coiling spirals which wrap
themselves around the pillar's Tree of Life are suddenly revealed as a
perfect double helix - the fundamental DNA building block of
life. When the pillar was carved the meaning of the double
helix wasn't to be discovered for another 500 years.
Another striking aspect is the detail of the ceiling, which features
hundreds of small cubes intricately carved with mysterious
symbols. One theory is that this is some sort of coded
musical notation, and a prize of £5,000.00 has been offered to
anyone who can break the code.
As a building the chapel is not
very big, there are what look like unfinished walls at the west end.
The official line is that they were originally intended to form part of
what would have the transept giving the chapel a cruciform shape when
viewed from above. There is however, an alternative point of view
espoused by Lomas and Knight in their books ‘The Hiram Key and
The Second Messiah’, and it is, that unfinished look is quite
deliberate and a conscious attempt by the builders to emulate the ruin
of Herod’s temple. The entire building is currently covered by a
canopy that is intended to allow the structure to dry out as it had
been suffering quite badly from water damage. However, the real beauty
of the building is in the amazing carvings both inside and out,
although the external carvings are weather worn now, the extent of the
interior work is quite breathtaking.
When my colleague and I visited, there were a fair number of tourists
there, Japanese, American and German and no doubt other nationalities
as well. The guide who initially started to take us round gave up
pretty quickly when she realised that we had a rather different agenda
than she would cover on her itinerary. As soon as we mentioned the
alternative theories, she knew that tales of how this was just a
Christian church wouldn’t do. One thing that we did learn however
was that another non-invasive investigation of the vault beneath the
chapel with ultrasound will be carried out in the near future. As it
happened, we noticed that Bob Bryden (the Scottish Templar archivist)
was there lecturing to a group of Americans from the Edgar Cayce
Society, so we tagged onto them and listened with great interest to
what he was saying, and learned considerably more than we would have
done from the official guide.
The building itself is redolent with history, even the name;
‘Rosslyn’ is perhaps significant. According to the
researches of Lomas and Knight for the book ‘The Hiram Key’
the word can be broken into its two syllables, ‘Ros’ and
‘lyn’ these have their roots in the Gaelic,
‘Ros’- ancient knowledge and ‘Lyn’- down the
ages. It can therefore be argued that even the name of the place is
telling us what it is, a library carved in stone ciphers. An attempt to
impart arcane knowledge in something more durable than paper,
knowledge, hidden in plain sight, only to be understood by those with
the intellect to decode it. Outstanding amongst the wonderful carvings
are two items deserving particular mention, these are the two
exquisitely worked pillars at the East end of the chapel.
The most impressive of these ‘The Apprentice Pillar’ is a
marvelous piece of work, the carving of which was supposedly completed
by the apprentice of a craftsman who had gone abroad for advice on the
project. The tradesman on his return was consumed by jealousy and
murdered the apprentice with a blow to the head. This head is
reproduced about halfway up the wall in the South West of the chapel.
This particular story is a direct reference to a Masonic tradition,
which is itself interwoven with Templar rituals and beliefs; in fact
the two organizations are inextricably linked. Indeed some of the
higher degrees of Freemasonry specifically deal with certain aspects of
the Knights Templar to the extent that the Freemasons can claim
‘ownership’ of the Templars. The two orders are in effect
running the Templar rituals in parallel, the methodology will be
slightly different but the rationale will be the
same.
The contents of the vaults beneath the chapel are the real mystery,
exactly what is down there?, there are many theories, some fanciful,
some not, but all of them a source of puzzlement and speculation. The
last burial was in the 1600's when the vault was finally sealed, all
those interred there are from the St. Clair family, some buried in full
battle armour and lying on stone slabs. Just what exactly is buried
with them?, nobody knows for certain, there is (allegedly) depending on
where you get your information. The physical gateway to paradise,
scrolls bearing the lost gospels of Jesus, which the original Templars
excavated, from below the Jerusalem Temple. The actual cup of The Holy
Grail used at the last supper, (although there is a school of thought
that the chapel itself is the grail) since the necessary parameters
required to be the grail are found in the structure and location of the
chapel.
Finally, the latest theory espoused in a new book by Dr. Keith Laidler,
is that the mummified head of Christ is there, this is based on the
legend that the Templars venerated if not actually worshipped something
known as the father of knowledge, this was a head of some kind (which
they referred as the Baphomet) although its origins are shrouded in
mystery. It is believed that following the rout of the Templars in
1370, this along with other artifacts were spirited away to Scotland,
originally to Kilwinning then to their final resting place at Roslyn.
The Militi Templi Scotia themselves believe that the vaults contain a
piece of the 'true cross' of Christ, the (Holy Rood) which was brought
to Scotland by St. Margaret, the Queen of Malcolm Canmore in the 11th
century. On a cynical note, it is worth pointing out that fragments of
the 'true cross' were a handy and profitable sideline in ages past.
This and sundry body parts of assorted saints could be had if the price
was right, some saints must have had an incredible number of fingers
and toes and the fragments of the cross would make a small forest.
Hopefully, one day soon when the vaults are finally opened up and the
contents revealed the truth will emerge, sadly, the truth will not
please everyone as the contents, (whatever they are) cannot be all
things to all people. Some will no doubt be deeply disappointed, but if
nothing else the speculation will finally come to an end and who knows,
perhaps an entirely new chapter in history will be written, or existing
history re-written. I look forward to that day with a sense of great
anticipation and excitement.
There are 2 bus services that operate to Roslin - Lothian Buses service 15A (not15) and First service 62.
Lothian Buses service 15A operates from Tranent to Penicuik via
Morningside and you can board this service at St Andrew Square, Princes
Street or Lothian Road. It operates to Roslin hourly, Monday to Friday
during the day with no evening or Saturday and Sunday service. Times at
St Andrew Square are 0641, 0740, 0845 then 42 minutes past the hour all
day until 1747 and 1852. Return journeys are at 19 minutes past the
hour at Roslin and there is timetable information at all stops in
Roslin.
Service 62 operates from the new Bus Station and can be boarded there
or on North Bridge. Times are as follows: Bus Station 0925, 1025, 1125,
1225, 1325 and 1425 arriving at Roslin at 57 minutes after the hour.
Return journeys are at 0944, 1044, 1144, 1244, 1344 and 1444. Operates
to Roslin Monday to Saturday only, no evening or Sunday service.
