The Silver Jubilee Booklet

I           St. Leonard’s College was founded by Archbishop Alexander Stewart and Prior John Hepburn on 20th August 1512. To be precise, its formal title was ‘the College of Poor Clerks in the Church of St. Andrew’ and its primary purpose was to provide training in arts and theology for novices of the Augustinian Priory that formed part of the cathedral foundation. The Principalship was to be held by one of the canons selected for this duty by the Prior while all other appointments – of regents, chaplains, and bursars – were to be made by the Prior and Principal jointly. To ensure that the conditions of the foundation were duly observed there was to be an annual visitation by representatives of the Priory. At the same time, however, the college formed part of the University of St. Andrews, and before long its students came to include many who were not destined for membership of the Augustinian Order even if they were obliged to follow a life of monastic severity while they were in residence.

            As the charter of 1512 makes clear, the college instituted in that year was a very much older foundation in a fresh guise, namely, ‘the Hospital and the Church of St. Leonard joined thereto, newly built in proper form at the expense of the Church of St. Andrew and with money got by the Prior for the purpose’. This hospital or hospice actually antedated the mediaeval Cathedral and Priory, being already in existence in 1144 when Bishop Robert transferred it from the Culdees to the Augustinians. The Culdees, to be found in several centres of the Celtic Church in both Scotland and Ireland, seem to have represented the ‘active’ element in the church when, as at St. Andrews, one element had become in active and secularised. Their hospice was evidently intended for use by pilgrims to the shrine of St. Andrew but was said at the time of its transfer to have accommodation for no more than six guests. Bishop Robert now endowed it for the reception of ‘all comers’, reconstructing and extending the building to serve this enlarged function.

            The site of the hospice – and of the succeeding college – was on the western edge of the ecclesiastical settlement of Kinrimund to the south of the eastmost part of South Street. The endowment, as supplemented by King David I and his daughter-in-law the Countess Ada, included lands in the neighbourhood of St. Andrews such as Rathelpie (to the west) and Kenly (to the south-east) still in the possession of the university. The earliest reference to an association with St. Leonard appears to be in 1248 but many foundations of this kind had such a dedication, the saint’s patronage extending beyond prisoners to persons lodging in inns or hospices who might often be in as great a need of his protection.

            That the hospice would include a chapel was to be expected, but when this building is first mentioned in 1413 it is as ‘the Parish Church of St. Leonard within the City of St. Andrews’. This status it may well have acquired in terms of a Papal letter of 1198 authorising the Bishop of St. Andrews and the Priory – to which the sole existing parish church of Holy Trinity was appropriated – to build a second such church for the growing population. In practice they seem to have solved the problem by making the hospital chapel available for parishioners living on the lands with which it was endowed. So arose the curious Parish of St. Leonard, small and scattered in extend and served in the Middle Ages not by a vicar, as was customary, but by a chaplain attached first to the hospital and latterly to the College under the title of ‘curate’.

II         When the University of St. Andrews came into being between 1410 and 1414 St. Leonard’s Church was one of the buildings in which it held its earliest meetings. Of such the most far-reaching in its consequences was undoubtedly that in 1418 when the Faculty of Arts decided to withdraw its obedience from Pope Benedict XIII in favour of Pope Martin V and to send representatives to the Governor and the Three Estates of the Realm to persuade them to do likewise, so ending the Great Schism of the West. In the background of such momentous happenings the condition of the hospital remains obscure. When it was re-founded as a college it was stated that latterly it was ‘without pilgrims’ and had been converted into an almshouse for old women ‘who gave little or no return in devotion or virtue’. Masters of ‘the Hospital or Almshouse of St. Leonard’ are certainly mentioned in 1421, 1450, and 1511, but it is impossible to define the nature of the institution over which they were presiding at the time.

            The decision to use ‘the Hospital and Church of St. Leonard’ as the basis of a college was clearly that of Prior John Hepburn. His associate in the foundation, the young Archbishop of St. Andrews Alexander Stewart, had indeed been planning top provide the university with a second college – addition to St. Salvator’s (1450) – but by a re-organisation of the old Pedagogy of the Faculty of Arts (1430). Instead he was persuaded to give his support to this very different scheme, and the fact that he died with his father King James IV at Flodden in the following year meant that it was not until 1537 that the Pedagogy was transformed into St. Mary’s College.

As has been indicated, Hepburn’s college was to be very much a dependency of the Priory. In its first form it was to consist of a Principal, four chaplains of whom two were to function as regents or teaching masters while one was to act as curate of the parish, twenty scholars in arts and six in theology. These were to be maintained partly from the revenues of the parent house, the Priory of St. Andrews, partly from the endowments of the old hospital with additions made by the founder. Under the college statutes – as they survive in a revised version of 1544 – the foundation seems to have altered slightly so as to consist of a Principal providing instruction in theology, two chaplains acting respectively as ‘curate and sacrist’ and ‘provisor and procurator in things temporal’, four regents in arts, and a variable number of scholars. Other students might reside within the college provided they conformed to its austere order of life.

            In 1545, on the request of the Principal and founded members, a fresh charter was issued to the college by Cardinal Beaton. Although this did not explicitly recognise it as an independent corporation, the fact that the grant was made in this particular manner had much the same effect. While the foundation remained under the ultimate control of the Priory, in practice a great deal of its business – the management of its finances as well as the regulation of its community life – was conducted by the Principal and his senior colleagues. These also shared in the work of the university as officials and examiners. Thus ‘the College of St. Leonard’, as it was now commonly termed, had acquired a status not unlike that of St . Salvator’s and St. Mary’s. And yet, paradoxically, this foundation designed to sustain the old faith become at the same time a home of reformed opinions. With teachers such as Gavin Logie and students like Alexander Alane or Alesius ‘to drink of St. Leonard’s Well’ was tantamount to embracing Protestantism.

            In both the original charter of 1512 and the revised version of 1545 there are references to the buildings of the college in terms which suggest a thorough-going reconstruction of the old hospital and church. The evidence of such parts of the fabric as survive supports this conclusion. While the church or chapel includes a great deal of Romanesque masonry, probably dating from the earlier re-building in the twelfth century, the foundations and the architectural details belong to Prior Hepburn’s period and it is clear that the older stonework has simply been re-used. Interestingly, the windows of the church are of square-headed ‘English perpendicular’ form and the same is true of the garment of the ‘Stone Transe’ incorporated in the later buildings to the west.

            In its first form the church seems to have comprised four ‘bays’ or constructional units of approximately equal length, the three westernmost forming a nave for parochial services and the fourth providing a choir for the corporate worship of the college. As enrolments of students increased, however, the choir was extended eastwards as far as the Priory precinct wall which was incorporated to serve as a new east gable. It was perhaps at the same time, possibly in the 1540’s, that a tower was build within the west end of the church. Beyond it was the ‘Stone Transe’, a two storeyed structure having schools or lecture-rooms on the ground floor with six ‘chambers’ above for the principal, Curate, and Regents. The Provisor had quarters over the east gate and the students in a row of chambers on the south side of the court but details regarding these and the location of the hall are lacking for this period. The heraldic ornamentation includes examples of Prior Hepburn’s arms and a quite splendid panel, building to the later hall, depicting the arms of Archbishop Stewart with angel supporters.

III        When the Reformation came to St. Andrews in 559-60 it had less immediate effect than might be supposed. While the Cathedral fell into disuse and thence into disrepair and ruin, the Priory remained in being as  a legal corporation under its titular head the Lord James Stewart and its rights over St. Leonard’s College were maintained by his experienced Sub-Prior John Winram. The Principal, John Duncanson, continued in office, as did the four regents, though the two chaplainries seem to have lapsed. For some years indeed St. Leonard’s was re-absorbed in St. Andrews parish, but in 1578 it was placed under the care of the college principal James Wilkie who had succeeded the great humanist George Buchanan (1566-70).

            In the next year 1579 there was enacted the ‘New Foundation’ of the colleges of the university. By this theological study was to be concentrated in St. Mary’s with St. Salvator’s and St. Leonard’s becoming primarily ‘colleges in philosophy’ or arts. Initially it was intended at St. Salvator’s should also provide instruction in law and medicine while the principal of St. Leonard’s was to lecture on Platonic philosophy as an antidote to the traditional Aristotelianism of the mediaeval curriculum, but these provisions soon lapsed. Hence it is not surprising that when the university, after a period of continuing prosperity, began to decline in the eighteenth century, proposals should have been made for a union of the two ‘philosophy colleges’ a scheme actually carried into effect in 1747.

            In the intervening years St. Leonard’s College maintained itself as fully the equal of St. Salvator’s in prestige and numbers. Its students included members of the nobility like the first Marquis of Argyle, the first Duke of Lauderdale, and the second Earl of Buccleuch, the last a generous benefactor of the college library which by other gifts of the kind became perhaps the best in St. Andrews. If its regents, of necessity, remained but a brief time in its service, many achieved prominence in their later careers like John Strang as principal of Glasgow University, John Wedderburn as physician to King Charles I, and James Sharp as Archbishop of St. Andrews. By the re-annexation of the Priory to the Archbishopric in 1661 the last also became Patron of the college.

            In 1620 an addition to the teaching resources of St. Leonard’s was made when Sir John Scott of Scotstarvit instituted a ‘professorship of humanity’. Despite its high-sounding title its initial purpose was to perfect students’ mastery of Latin so as to enable them to participate in the work of the philosophical courses which was still conducted entirely in that language. After much difficult the new professor eventually found a place on the foundation but as the junior of his philosophical colleagues. These, it may be noted, taught all the subjects of the four year curriculum to one ‘class’ in turn despite a provision of the New Foundation that they should specialise in a particular subject. In 1702 Greek became a ‘fixed’ professorship and in 1727 Natural Philosophy followed suit but it was not until 1744, on the very eve of its union with St. Salvator’s, that St. Leonard’s achieved complete specialisation.

            But the early years of the seventeenth century it is clear that the college buildings were in need of renewal and extension. Robert Wilkie, Principal from 1589 to 1611, ‘enclosed the courtyard with buildings on the west and enlarged it on the east’ as the inscription on his monument in the church (one of a fine series here) records. The surviving eastern archway was evidently part of this work but when his successor Peter Bruce assumed office (1611-30) there was such a shortage of students’ rooms that some had to be lodged outside the college. To remedy this situation in 1617 Bruce reconstructed the residential range on the south side of the court opposite the church as a two-storeyed structure of five ‘chambers’ above and below, each accommodating two students. In 1655 this range was continued to the west by a building of equal extent – both still largely intact – donated by Principal William Guild of King’s College, Aberdeen. Allowing for rooms in the east and west ‘capitols’ and the ‘Stone Transe’ the college could thus house some three-quarters of its average undergraduate membership of about a hundred during this period. Sons of the nobility, with their private tutors or ‘pedagogues’ might be permitted to lodge in the town. And as there was now no ban on the marriage of senior members of the foundation these might do likewise.

            Beyond these residential buildings the college continued to comprise church, hall, library, and certain lecture-rooms or ‘schools’. In the church the screen diving in nave and choir had now been removed and the whole area seated for congregational worship, the members of the college occupying a gallery inserted at the west end. By the seventeenth century, if not earlier, the hall may have been located in the north-west corner of the court, beyond the Stone Transe. In the 1670’s the ‘Senzie Chamber’ on the west side of the Priory cloister was reconstructed ‘to be a librarie house to St. Leonard’s Colledge’ but was destroyed by fire in 1683 before it had been brought into use and the library continued in the main college group.

            In 1702 this was itself damaged by a fire which necessitated the complete re-building of the block containing the hall in the form of which it may still be seen, a three-storeyed structure with ‘common school’, hall, and library one above the other, linked by a handsome ‘scale and platt’ stair at the east end. In 1718, while this work was still in hand, it was decided to replace the adjoining Stone Transe, described as ‘ruinous’, by a new building having schools on the ground floor and two storeys of students’ rooms above. As the building threatened to dwarf the adjoining tower at the west end of the church, in 1727 this was considerably heightened and provided with a new stone spire and balustraded parapet.

IV        The rehabilitation of the fabric of St. Leonard’s College was, in a sense, an act of faith. By this time student numbers in St. Andrews had declined from an average total of around 250 to 150 and at St. Leonard’s College from 100 to 60. In the 1730’s, however, the situation became even more serious, so much so that by the 1740’s no more than a handful of students were entering the two ‘philosophy colleges’. In the circumstances the argument for their amalgamation became almost irresistible and in 1747 it was accomplished with the formation of ‘the United College of St. Salvator and St. Leonard’. As it so happened, the first Principal of the United College was Thomas Tullideph, previously Principal of St. Leonard’s College, and in view of this circumstance and the fact that the St. Leonard’s buildings were by far the better condition it may seem surprising that St. Salvator’s should have been chosen to the be the seat of the combined foundation. Admittedly the latter had a more impressive frontage on one of the main streets of the city but the chief reason for its selection seems to have been a personal preference on the part of the Principal.

            As a result of this decision, although both the name and the historic identity of St. Leonard’s College were continued within the United College, the fact that its buildings were abandoned meant that its contribution to the character of the foundation was significantly reduced. In factual fact the abandonment was a somewhat prolonged process and at no time complete. For the first year of its existence indeed the members of the United College occupied the St. Leonard’s buildings while those of St. Salvator’s were being repaired. But the repairs continued beyond 1748 and came to involve a massive re-building that was not completed until 1747. During this time some use was necessarily made of St. Leonard’s – though the detached site in the Priory was sold in 1745 – and the worship of the parochial congregation continued within the college church. In 1759, however, the United College being permanently installed at St. Salvator’s, it was resolved that the congregation should follow suit. In 1761 accordingly St. Salvator’s Church was brought back into use as ‘St. Leonard’s parish church’, a function it served until 1904 when a new church was provided at Rathelpie on a site which had formed part of the patrimony of the ancient hospital and college and had thus been included within the parish from its creation.

            When St. Leonard’ Church was abandoned it was thought prudent to reduce the structure to the bare walls, the roof being removed and the tower demolished. But when the other college buildings were sold to Professor Robert Watson in 1772 – for £200 and an annual feu-duty of £10 – the church was explicitly excluded from this arrangement and a right of entry to it from both South Street and the Pends road reserved ‘in case it shall ever be repaired and again used as a church’. In fact there was a serious proposal to do so the very next year when the college became alarmed at the condition of the vaulted roof of St. Salvator’s Church and had plans prepared by the Edinburgh architect James Craig for a renovation of St. Leonard’s Church in a classical style, but in the outcome the threatening vault was excised and St. Leonard’s continued in its ruined state for  many years more. The parish remained under the ministry of the Principle of the United College until 1824.

            In the meantime the other buildings of the college had been divided into two properties know as ‘St. Leonard’s East’ and ‘St Leonard’s West’, the latter including the hall and other structures on the north side of the court as well as six of the ten residential units on the south side. In the mid-nineteenth century the owners of the properties came to be respectively Sir David Brewster, Principal of the United College, and Sir Hugh Lyon Playfair, Provost of St. Andrews. In 1853 they were responsible for opening up a double carriage entrance at the foot of the approach from South Street, a scheme that in Sir David’s case involved the setting back of the west gable of the old church to its present position. He way, on the other hand, take credit for re-opening the blocked windows and putting the interior into a better state.

            In 1859 Brewster left St. Andrews for Edinburgh, being succeeded as Principal (but not in the occupation of St. Leonard’s East) by James David Forbes. Among other things Forbes was anxious to restore collegiate residence for his students and in 1861 obtained a lease of St. Leonard’s West from the representatives of Sir Hugh Lyon Playfair who had died this same year. Here ‘St. Leonard’s Hall’ was inaugurated, a venture initially so promising that the lease was extended to include St. Leonard’s East and in 1867 a large new building was constructed on a site further to the east. This, however, failed to maintain the numbers necessary for survival and in 1874 it was closed. After some thought of using the building for the University Library it was sold to Bishop Woodsworth who named it ‘Bishopshall’. In 1881 the old residential buildings were bought by the St. Andrews School for Girls founded in 1877 which, after its arrival here, assumed the traditional name o the situ and eventually acquired all the adjoining properties other than St. Leonard’s Church.

            In 1902-4 there was a possibility that this would be brought back into use when arrangements were made to remove the parochial congregation from St. Salvator’s Church so that it could serve exclusively as a University Chapel. On due examination, however, it was found that the old fabric could not be made to accommodate the number of parishioners prescribed by law and a new building was provided instead at Rathelpie. Following this, in 1910 the University re-roofed the old church and re-glazed the windows but no further progress was made until 1948-52 when the building was completely renovated with the help of the Pilgrim Trust and equipped with furnishings donated by Sir David and Lady Russell as a memorial to their son Patrick, a former student of the university killed on active service in the Second World War. The designs were prepared by the Edinburgh architect Ian Gordon Lindsay and involved, as far as possible, a restoration of the fabric to its original form. In this way the building has revived for the modern academic community of St. Andrew active memories of one of its most historic foundations, the ancient Hospital and College of St. Leonard.

R. G. Cant.