A 700th anniversary is not like a number 7 bus. If you miss it, there won’t be another along in 20 minutes.
Set for 6 April 2020 – exactly 700 years after the date given on the Declaration of Arbroath – a brand new exhibition at Arbroath Abbey in Angus was to open amid parades, concerts and other events that the local community had spent years planning and preparing.
Sadly, COVID lockdown measures put a pause on the festivities but the exhibition is finally ready for visitors as part of the wider Arbroath 2020+1 festival activities, which run until the end of September 2021. Read on to get a taste of the archaeological finds and other artefacts you can explore.
Declaration of Arbroath (c) Historic Environment Scotland.
What is the Declaration of Arbroath?
The Declaration of Arbroath is a letter sent by Scotland’s barons to Pope John XXII from Arbroath Abbey in 1320 which asked the Pope to recognise Scotland’s right to govern itself and Robert the Bruce as the lawful King of Scots.
The centrepiece of this exhibition is a superb facsimile (an exact copy) of the Declaration itself, commissioned and donated to the abbey by National Records of Scotland. It was created by a specialist using materials similar to those used to make the original, including calf-skin parchment and iron-gall ink.
Painstaking research into the identities of the 50 or so barons who added their seals to the Declaration is presented via a lively interactive touchscreen.
Other highlights include the Arbroath Tapestry produced by a group of local women to mark the 700th anniversary, a playful animated film about the letter and its context, a CGI flythrough of the abbey built from 3D scans of the ruins by the Historic Environment Scotland Digital Innovation Team, and a tactile scale model of the abbey (primarily for those with visual impairments).
Monymusk Reliquary (c) Historic Environment Scotland.
Archaeological finds from Arbroath Abbey
The visitor centre at Arbroath Abbey was purpose-built in 2001–2, and construction was preceded by archaeological investigation of the proposed site, adjacent to the north-west tower of the abbey church. This brought some interesting artefacts to light, all of which have been held in Treasure Trove. Some of them are now on display for the first time.
These artefacts are particularly good at revealing the daily lives of the monks who lived at the abbey. Pins and a needle conjure pictures of the brethren making and repairing clothing, while bone styluses (writing implements) provide evidence of a scriptorium, or writing office, even though this room no longer survives.
The regality register (on loan from the Angus Council collections) also provides a record of the abbey’s financial and legal affairs over 200 years on parchment. Was it written in the same scriptorium that produced the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320?
Even more unusual is a tiny spoon elaborately carved from antler which has been interpreted as an ‘ear scoop’ for removing wax from the ears of monks. But it wasn’t always a peaceful life – a pair of barbed arrowheads from the 14th century also remind us that abbeys were not spared bloodshed during the Wars of Independence, a series of military campaigns fought between Scotland and England.
Arbroath Tapestry (c) Historic Environment Scotland.
More mysterious are a group of eight medieval octagonal copper-alloy tokens. These may have permitted worshippers to attend certain sacraments (rites) or perhaps they granted pilgrims access to the Brecbennach, a legendary container for relics of St Columba that was kept at Arbroath Abbey.
Also in the exhibition is a near-perfect 3D-printed replica of the Monymusk Reliquary (a container for holy relics – this one is on loan from the long-established Arbroath Abbey Pageant Society). The original, displayed in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, is believed by some to be the Brecbennach itself.
Some items shed vivid light on the construction of the abbey, such as huge iron nails for timber and fragments of delicately painted window glass. And some of the artefacts that appeared in the original exhibition have also been redisplayed. The star attraction is a grave effigy of King William I, founder of the abbey, carved in Frosterley marble from 200 miles away in the north-east of England. There is good reason to think it was commissioned for him by King Robert the Bruce, who was closely associated with the abbey.
Other highlights include a large number of carved-stone details, colourfully glazed floor tiles, a coin dating from the reign of William I, a medieval ink pot and a curious ceramic cup thought to be of French origin, whose multiple lobes make it entirely impractical for drinking.
Curious to know more? Why not visit yourself? Prebook your ticket now on the Historic Environment Scotland website.
Blog by Andrew Burnet, Interpretation Manager, Historic Environment Scotland.
