string-courses divide it into seven storeys, the topmost lighted
by four largish apertures facing the cardinal points. A western doorway,
6-2/3 feet from the ground, has inclined jambs and a semicircular head,
all three hewn from single blocks, and the arch being rudely sculptured
with a crucifix, each jamb with a bishop bearing a pastoral staff, and
each corner of the sill with a nondescript crouching animal.[147] The
sculpture on the graceful Tower of Brechin was, there as elsewhere, the
repetition in stone of the illuminated page of the Celtic scribe, who in
turn repeated many of the graceful and varied designs of the
pre-Christian worker in bronze and gold,[148] adding to them Christian
symbols. Dr. Joseph Anderson finds in the figures of the crouching beast
and winged griffin at Brechin a close affinity to the figures of
nondescript creatures carved on the early sculptured memorial
stones.[149]

The cathedral, founded about 1150, and added to at various periods, was
originally a cruciform structure, consisting of a five-bayed nave with
two aisles, late First Pointed mixed with Second Pointed; a transept
formed by an extension of these aisles to the north and south; an
aisleless choir (with lancet windows), the ruins of which are a fine
example of First Pointed work,[150] and which when complete must have
been a very pure and beautiful piece of architecture. The north-west
tower was being constructed in the time of Bishop Patrick (1351-1373),
but must have been a long time in erection. The western doorway presents
the oldest feature of the existing building,[151] and is simple and
massive. The tower and spire are pronounced to be the completest and
best remaining example of their kind in Scotland.[152]

By the alteration of 1806 the choir was reduced, the transepts
demolished, new and wider aisles built on each side of the nave, while
the outer walls of the aisles were carried to such a height that the
whole nave could be covered with a roof of one span, "thus totally
eclipsing the beautiful windows in the nave, and covering up the
handsome carved cornice of the nail-head quatrefoil description which
ran under the eaves of the nave."[153] The cathedral was thus sadly
deformed, but plans of restoration have been recently adopted, funds are
being raised, and the noble minster will before long be restored to its
former grandeur.

The diocese contained thirty parishes, and the bishop sat in the chapter
as Rector of