Callum / Scotland / 21

a winter morning (Kodak Ektar 100)

St Andrews Cathedral

Built in 1158, the cathedral became the centre of the Medieval Catholic Church and seat of the Archdiocese and Archbishop. At a length of 119 meters (390 ft), the ruins suggest that this was the largest church built in Scotland. So what happened to this once magnificent church? On the 4th of June 1559, the preacher John Knox, the central figure of the Scottish Protestant Reformation, held a sermon in the nearby Church of the Holy Trinity, which incited a riotous mob to march on the cathedral and strip its insides of its wealth. As a result of the Reformation, Catholic mass was outlawed during the 16th Century and the church fell into disuse. People would carry off the stones to re-use for new houses and the cathedral quickly turned into a ruin. It is now under the care of Historic Environment Scotland, but most of it can be seen for free.