The confusion over the building date comes from the chapel's receiving its founding charter to build a collegiate chapel in 1446 from Rome. Ĭonstruction of the chapel began on 20 September 1456, although it has often been recorded as 1446. Its architecture is considered to be among the finest in Scotland. The original plans for Rosslyn have never been found or recorded, so it is open to speculation whether or not the chapel was intended to be built in its current layout. Architecture Pendant keystone in the roof The current owner is Peter St Clair-Erskine, 7th Earl of Rosslyn. Medieval historians say these accounts have no basis in fact. It was prominently featured in this role in Dan Brown's bestselling novel The Da Vinci Code (2003) and its 2006 film adaptation. Since the late 1980s, the chapel has been the subject of speculative theories concerning a connection with the Knights Templar and the Holy Grail, and Freemasonry. The chapel was the target of a terrorist bombing in 1914, when a suffragette bomb exploded inside the building during the suffragette bombing and arson campaign. It was reopened as a place of worship according to the rites of the Scottish Episcopal Church, a member church of the Anglican Communion. From that time, the chapel was closed to public worship until 1861. The Sinclair family continued to be Catholics until the early 18th century. The priests also had parochial responsibilities.Īfter the Scottish Reformation (1560), Catholic worship in the chapel was brought to an end. Sinclair provided an endowment to pay for the support of the priests and choristers in perpetuity. During this period, the rich heritage of plainsong (a single melodic line) or polyphony (vocal harmony) were used to enrich the singing of the liturgy. Sinclair founded the college to celebrate the Divine Office throughout the day and night, and also to celebrate Masses for all the faithful departed, including the deceased members of the Sinclair family. Rosslyn Chapel is the third Sinclair place of worship at Roslin, the first being in Roslin Castle and the second (whose crumbling buttresses can still be seen today) in what is now Roslin Cemetery. The chapel was founded by William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness of the Scoto-Norman Sinclair family. Rosslyn Chapel was founded on a small hill above Roslin Glen as a Catholic collegiate church (with between four and six ordained canons and two boy choristers) in the mid-15th century. Rosslyn Chapel, formerly known as the Collegiate Chapel of St Matthew, is a 15th-century chapel located in the village of Roslin, Midlothian, Scotland. Including vaults, burial ground and boundary hills Rosslyn Chapel (Episcopal), formerly Collegiate Church of St Matthew,

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