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We visited Rossyln chapel yesterday on the way back from Yorkshire. I had read about the place in Ian Rankin’s “Set in Darkness” and had totally forgotten about its involvement in Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code”. I was expecting a few carvings and a couple of mysteries but was totally blown away when I walked into the tiny chapel of  the Collegiate Church of St Matthew.

Lucifer - the fallen angel: Antonia Reeve/RCT

A Church this is not. It is quite plain that this is a pantheistic temple which was later called a Church in order to secure its survival. This is pure freemasonry from top to bottom. No Christian Church is so bedecked with pagan symbols, images of Lucifer, plants, sins and death. Dragons all over and full fields of flowers. Trains of intricate patterns and a large number of splayed crosses mark this place as an important meeting place of the Knights Templar. The splayed cross is also part of the Sinclair family’s insignia.

William St Claire commenced the building of the chapel in 1442. It took around 40 years to build and was still not totally complete when he died. His family line has remained intact since and the St Claire’s still own the chapel today. The family are traditional Grand Masters of the Masons of Scotland since the charter was granted to Sir William Sinclair of Rosslyn in 1630.

The carvings cover every inch of the small chapel. It is the most intricate building I have ever seen – even more so than the Vatican, which was heavy on paintings but not so interested in masonry.

The unfortunate attempts at restoration in the 1960′s have left the stone a dulled colour – covered as it is in a cement wash. The original yellow and pink sandstone would have been much more beautiful. It is also interesting to note that the religious stained glass windows, Virgin Mary statue above the first altar and font at the back were late Victorian additions. The original chapel had clear windows and no overarching Christian regalia.

Some things you will see if you visit the chapel include:

• The Green Man: a pagan figure representing fertility. He has vines growing out of his mouth and around his face. He is ugly and scary and there are over 100 carvings of him in the Church.
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  Lucifer: an upside-down angel wrapped in rope and representing the fallen angel sent to hell.
• Robert the Bruce: the face of Robert the Bruce is carved into the easternmost part of the Church. He looks pretty squished-in despite his importance in history. He was related to the St Claire family.
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  Medieval Maize in Scotland

  Carvings of American plants which predate Columbus’ “discovery” of America: The Chapel was finished just after 1484. Columbus landed in America in 1492. The exotic plants featured in the chpel include corn (maize), aloe vera and a third plant with a latin name which I can’t remember. I was sceptical about the explanation given by the guide that the St Claire’s who built the chapel were descended from Vikings and may have landed in America before Columbus had seen the plants. A much more simple explanation is that these carvings were added later. The masonry is certainly uneven on particular parts and looks as though it may have been cut out and put back in.

• The Nativity: Figures from the nativity on top of an eight pointed star – the “star of Bethlehem” according to the guide books. Apparently the star of David (six-pointed) does not appear anywhere in the Church and had to be added by the filmmakers of “The Da Vinci Code”. Do you reckon that William St Claire had something against the Jews?
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  Musical Cubes: Antonia Reeve/RCT

  The Musical Boxes: 213 boxes carved on the edges of ribs around the vaulted pillars. Each one has a carving but the carvings do not follow an obvious pattern along the ribs. One theory is that each box represents a musical note and a Father/Son team of musicologists spent years trying to crack the code. They developed a scheme of tapping a tuning fork on a metal sheet covered in sand. The sand would then allegedly form a pattern which matched the carvings telling you which note to play. The legend goes that if the music of Rosslyn Chapel is ever played in the chapel, then the chapel will reveal its secrets. The Rosslyn Motet has been performed in the chapel three times and nothing has happened. I would hazard a guess that the code is more straightforward. One carving represents one note. A different carving a different note.

• The Dance of Death: people from all strata of society being pulled into the next world by Death, depicted as a skeleton.
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  Apprentice Pillar: Antonia Reeve/RCT

  The Apprentice Pillar: the most elaborately decorated pillar in the Church was alleged to have been carved while the master mason was on a research break in Rome. His apprentice had a dream and completed the pillar in his masters’ absence. Upon his return, the master flew into a jealous rage and struck the apprentice with a mallet, killing him. The master was said to have been hung for his crime and the faces of the apprentice, apprentice’s mother and the master are said to be the faces at the back of the Church. It appears there may be more to this simplistic story.

There is a lot of symbolism around the chapel and I would love to know what it all means. However I was sceptical of a lot of the stories told by the guide. I know there’s more to it because I’ve been on these sorts of tours before and there is always a wealth of knowledge on the times, the styles of architecture and the processes of building. We weren’t treated to very much information but the information will definitely be available somewhere.

According to the guide, a plumbline from the keystone points to a stone in the floor which covers the treasure of Rosslyn. He says that the St Claire family won’t let anyone lift up the stones because their ancestors are likely to be buried underneath. However, the slabs on the floor have obviously been lifted. I know this because Rob has lifted floor slabs eslewhere and put them back. That is how they look when they’ve been re-laid. Not only that, but many of the important floorstones are covered with carpet.

The guide said that the owners had allowing a sonar scan of the central Church which revealed a honeycomb-like structure and informed us that there is as much space below the Church as there is in it. The tour then concluded and Rob and I went into the crypt. The crypt is some sort of meeting room and would make a great entrance hall for the underground chambers of the Church as it is so much lower down. The Church being built on a hill, the crypt has a window to the sunlight but backs onto the lower bowels of the chapel.I would hazard a guess that this is a major meeting place for Freemasons and that the upper echelons of the order know full well what is going on.

There are definitely secrets in Rosslyn and the questions that occupied us on the way home were:

• What would you do if you were the St Claire family and had possession of the Holy Grail/other treasures? Would you look at it, leave it, move it or try to keep it a secret in the face of so much publicity?
• Would the chambers under the chapel be booby-trapped or would you be able to break-in?
• Would there be a normal entrance to the chambers that is simply obscured from view?
• What are the secrets of freemasonry?
• Why do humans create such mystery for themselves?

Rosslyn Chapel is well worth a visit. It is 7.50 GBP for adults and is just off the A701 between Penicuik and Edinburgh. There is a castle, a chapel and a coffee shop.

It is extremely cold in the chapel. Probably colder than it is outside. Ian Rankin even commented on it in his chapter about visiting the place. Wrap up warm – especially your feet.

The chapel is currently covered with a tin roof while roofing restoration takes place. This work should be completed by summer 2010 if you want to wait to see the building in its full glory.

p.s. many people have thrown money into the gargoyle guttering which you can view from the roof walk. Wouldn’t you just love to own something so mysterious that visitors literally throw money at you?