d several storeys and a staircase. It is said to
have been erected after the Reformation. Used as the Town Clerk's
office, and later as a vestry, it has been recently set apart to contain
the monument of Dr. William Chambers, by whose liberality the cathedral
has been recently restored.

In 1829 the church was entirely renewed as regards the exterior, and two
chapels to the south of those built in 1389 and the south porch were
removed. The round arched doorway of the south porch was again erected
between the north pillars of the crossing as the entrance to the central
division of the church. It has now been transferred to the entrance
doorway to the royal pew at the east end of the Preston Aisle.[267] The
only portions of the exterior which escaped the unfortunate renewal of
1829 were the tower and steeple. Fortunately the well-known crown of St.
Giles was not interfered with. It was probably erected about 1500.[268]

"This crown," say the same authorities, "seems to have been a
favourite feature with Scottish architects. The crown of the tower
of King's College, Aberdeen, was built after 1505, and similar
crowns formerly existed on the towers of Linlithgow and Haddington
churches. The crown of St. Nicholas' Church, Newcastle, which is
probably the only other steeple of this kind in Great Britain, is
also of a late date. There is a crown of the same description on the
tower of the Town Hall at Oudenarde, in Belgium, which is also of
late Gothic work.... Some of the above crown steeples have an arch
thrown from each angle to a central pinnacle, an arrangement which
renders them rather thin and empty looking; but that of St. Giles'
has, in addition to the arches from the angles, another arch cast
from the centre of each side to the centre pinnacle. This produces
an octagonal appearance, which, together with the numerous crocketed
pinnacles with which the arches are ornamented, gives a richness and
fulness of effect which is wanting in some of the other steeples of
this description. The steeple of St. Giles' was partly rebuilt in
1648."[269]

In the tower was placed the great bell of St. Giles, which must have
been heard far and near on special occasions, as when, after the news of
the disastrous field of Flodden, the inhabitants were ordered at the
tolling of the common bell to assemble in military array for the defence
of the city. The bell was cas