114 The Pre- Reformation Churches of Berwickshire. 



in the S. wall. The former seems to have afforded access to a 

 stair, which probably led up to the trif orium or clerestory, and the 

 latter to have communicated with the monastic buildings. The 

 arch of the nave-aisle above mentioned was, unfortunately, taken 

 down by the workmen engaged in the restorations, through some 

 unaccountable misunderstanding of instructions, but was after- 

 wards rebuilt. This operation was carried out, however, in a 

 fashion probably unique in the annals of architectural restora- 

 tion ; and the arch now consists of a congeries of odds and ends 

 picked up in and around the priory — capitals and bases of 

 pillars, fragments of shafts, grotesque heads, corbels, and other 

 dissimilar materials. Such of its original details as are still 

 distinguishable are of a decidedly Norman type — so much so as 

 to lend some probability to the conjecture, that the nave was the 

 first part of the church, in its ultimate state, to be finished. The 

 bases of the pillars on the opposite side of the transept are 

 similar in style, though differing in plan ; and it would seem, 

 from one of Grose's views of the priory, that the arches they 

 supported were pointed. The same view shows a pointed arch 

 at the east side of the north transept, but not a stone of it has 

 been preserved. 



That the church had a central tower might be almost certainly 

 inferred from the massiveness of the foundations of the piers at 

 the crossing, but we have no information whatever respecting it, 

 beyond what has been stated in our brief sketch of the history 

 of the priory. 



Parallel to the S. wall of the choir, and about 80 feet distant 

 from it, is a fragment of a building, locally known as " Eggar's 

 Wa's," (Edgar's Walls), and asserted by tradition to have been 

 built by that monarch for his own residence, but which has 

 no doubt been the Eefectory. The lower portion of the N. wall, 

 in which can be plainly seen three doorways, with a flight of steps 

 in each, and a series of six equi-distant semi-cylindrical engaged 

 shafts, 22 inches in diameter, is all that survives. The doorways 

 and steps have evidently conducted to the cloisters, which stood 

 on a higher level, between the refectory and the choir. The 

 wall is rapidly falling into utter ruin, and the ablution drain at 

 its western extremity, described by Mr Hunter, is now entirely 

 covered by debris. In a mass of building at the opposite end, 

 is a rectangular recess, resembling a fireplace, within which is a 

 smaller recess of the same form, with an angular groove or check 



