uffered by the fall of the tower, but fortunately the south wall of
the transept with its finely decorated window is still preserved.
From the south transept access is obtained to the roof of the nave
aisle and to the uppermost parts of the structure by a turnpike
stair, which also forms the only mode of approach to the tower.[458]
"The choir, so far as the east is concerned, is well preserved, the
buttresses and gable, the celebrated eastern window, and the
remarkable vaulting of the presbytery being all in good order. The
remainder of the choir, however, has been greatly wrecked by the
fall of the central tower; but many of the windows of the choir and
transept with their perpendicular tracery have escaped destruction,
and afford the best example in Scotland of that form of
design."[459]

The building, as it now stands, is, generally speaking,[460] of a
date subsequent to Bruce's time, and much of it is later than the
destruction which occurred under Richard II. in 1385.[461] "The
nave, from the crossing to the rood loft, and part of the transepts
are, undoubtedly, the oldest portions of the existing edifice. The
work in these is, for the most part, of the Scottish decorated
period. The nave piers, with their beautifully carved caps, and the
mouldings of the arches are distinctly decorated work; and the
flying buttresses and pinnacles on the south side of the nave are,
without doubt, of the same period. So also is the south wall of the
transept, with its magnificent window and tracery and its
buttresses, enriched with fine canopies and quaint figures carved as
corbels.

"All these features bear a close affinity to the decorated work of
the nave of York Minster, erected about 1400. The flying buttresses,
with pinnacles enriched with crockets and foliaged finials; the
niches, with their elaborate canopies and corbels composed of
figures of monks and angels; the statues which formerly filled the
niches, of which very few now remain; the decorated tracery of the
south transept window, and the whole character of the work, both in
its general scope and in its details, is of fine decorated design,
and vividly recalls that of York, Beverley, and other English
examples. It is not improbable that some parts of the nave and
transept were erected during the period between the death of Ki