Rosslyn Chapel

[Polwarth]

We'll keep a welcome in the hillside..

Oh, no... that's the Welsh!

Glad you had a good time. I'm off to the Tattoo this Friday, for my sins. I was calculating that I've attended almost thirty of them over the years. D amned visitors!

[jet57]

Hello everyone,

This is my first post. I noted a great deal of interest in Roslyn Chapel.
William Sinclair was a well traveled man, therefore most of what he constructed reflected his experiences. At the time Roslyn was built, it was known that if people prayed for you after death, you went to heaven. It then became fassionable for the great estates to have collegate churches on their grounds: Sinclair's was easily the most ornate. There are a number of these churches in a forty square mile area from that site. (I'm qutoing that statistic from memory...). Many masons, including the curator of the Grand Lodge museum in Edinburgh, also an author, have toured Rosyln and been told by the guides, that if they do not see the masonic clues - they must not be masons..

So, it really is a tourist thing, and sells books, ala Da Vince. It's a fund raiser; like a cave somewhere. Very nice, but not really "authentic".

Regards

[Polwarth]

Originally Posted by jet57

Hello everyone,

This is my first post. I noted a great deal of interest in Roslyn Chapel.
William Sinclair was a well traveled man, therefore most of what he constructed reflected his experiences. At the time Roslyn was built, it was known that if people prayed for you after death, you went to heaven. It then became fassionable for the great estates to have collegate churches on their grounds: Sinclair's was easily the most ornate. There are a number of these churches in a forty square mile area from that site. (I'm qutoing that statistic from memory...). Many masons, including the curator of the Grand Lodge museum in Edinburgh, also an author, have toured Rosyln and been told by the guides, that if they do not see the masonic clues - they must not be masons..

So, it really is a tourist thing, and sells books, ala Da Vince. It's a fund raiser; like a cave somewhere. Very nice, but not really "authentic".

Regards

It's not JUST a 'tourist' thing - church services are still held in the Chapel.

[ScotSites]

Originally Posted by jet57

So, it really is a tourist thing, and sells books, ala Da Vince. It's a fund raiser; like a cave somewhere. Very nice, but not really "authentic".

What a totally pathetic and uneducated comment! First of all, most old churches are a tourist thing nowadays, but as Polwarth says this chapel is still in use as a church! Secondly, The Da Vinci Code made the chapel more famous than it already was so the benefit went from the book to the chapel, not the other way around! Thirdly, of course its a fund raiser... without funds the building would have to be left to fall apart or be sold off (and then probably be converted in to something else). I'm not sure about your cave comment... I've not heard of many of them that are used to raise funds for anything! Finally, how can you even possibly think its not really "authentic"? Have you even been there and seen it? Or even read anything about the building and its history? My guess is that you haven't!

[jet57]

Sorry if I offended anyone. I have read a great deal about it. I have been to Scotland, and elected not to visit the chapel based on what I know. (Perhaps next time).
Caves are great geographic sites that people visit that raise money for a park or the organization that owns it. The chapel today is being misrepresented in the view of many, so when I say a "tourist thing" that's what I'm referrring to. I'm glad to know however that services are still held there.

[pogofish]

Originally Posted by bookwyrm

all the best
mark :]

mark oxbrow

Well hello there Mark!

Sorry I'd not seen this earlier - We have met before!

BGS

[pogofish]

As for Rosslyn. Its a lovely place that I have visited a good number of times since about the early mid-80s.

It has never been short of visitors & when I first started going, there was no visitor centre or facilities whatsoever but the last few years numbers have simply erupted.

The restrictions on photography imposed what, two years back were the last straw. I doubt I'll be back for as long as they are in force.