The Orientation of Scottish Churches, Illustrated by an Analysis of some examples in Aberdeenshire and Banffshire

Abstract

The Celtic Church seems to have been specially rigid in the matter of orientation. Churches were built east and west, the altar being at the east end, the clergy and people in chancel and nave in front of it. This was also the case with side chapels, and the lesser altars which multiplied so greatly in the large town churches in the later Middle Ages. A list of churches with their orientations and dedications is appended.