At the time of its completion, St. Andrews was the largest cathedral in Scotland, the heart of the Scottish church. But a storm blew down much of the west end of the cathedral, to the right, in 1270, and much of the central part was destroyed in a fire in 1378 and by a huge storm in 1409. The east gables, on the left of the photo, are on a bluff with the North Sea literally right behind them. Three of the four sides of the cathedral are in sight of the North Sea; only the west end faces the land. © 2004 Lawrence I. Charters |