Postgraduate 
Degree Show 2023

St Constantine’s Sarcophagus

One of the significant stones is St Constantine’s Sarcophagus. The early Govan church was dedicated to St Constantine and was founded with royal patronage around 9th century and possibly early (Ritchie, 1999). Another discussion worth stressing is who St Constantine is. Although there are many explanations about St Constantine, it is hard to identify which person was the owner of this sarcophagus – a common name used in late eighth century, the migration of groups of Strathclyde aristocrats, the translation of saints’ relics – there were many persons called Constantine during this period and even putting together a history of the Scottish church at this time is difficult as well (Alan, 1997). However, no matter a King or a monk, the one thing could be said is he was an important historic figure in Govan’s history, representing the power, divinity, extraordinariness, and the Sarcophagus, even the church were dedicated to him – St Constantine’s Sarcophagus can be seen as one of the most representative stones in Govan.

Govan Old and the Govan’s Community

Indeed, the development of Govan Old was closely bound up with the development in Govan which largely influenced the Govan Community. Historically, Govan Old had been the center of worship and social activity throughout the past several centuries in Govan – the Brittonic Kingdom, the Kingdom of Strathclyde, etc. -even during the heyday of the industrial period in Glasgow. Back in 1840‘s, Govan was at one point the center of the world-renowned Clydeside shipbuilding industry (William Beardmore, 2000), and it can be imagined that thousands of workers working in factories, ships waiting to enter the port, people flooding into Govan Old and gathering in the navel singing the choir – a scene of prosperity. In 1876, the ministry of Govan believed that the new church was to be a noble sanctuary to transcend the industrial ugliness of the Govan’s bustling shipyards, providing daily services (McKinstry, 2000), and the last extension was completed in 1908. At that time, Govan Old was favored by the economic prosperity in Govan. After World War 2, Govan shipbuilding faced a huge decline and was unable to compete with the new power around the world (Brocklehurst, 2013). Accompanying the demolishment of shipbuilders and shipyards, Govan Old experienced the decrease of numbers of congregation and was united by Church of Scotland with Linthouse to make it redundant. However, it still stopped providing regular Sunday services in 2007. Now, the function of Govan Old is a museum, more than a sacred place, displaying Govan Stones and it only opens for six months.

However, when it comes to the residents in Govan, the senior generation still remember when they were kids used to stand at the doors of the shipyards and thousands of men coming out at once, stand on the graves and pretend the rumble of the subway was a ghost, dig the holes in churchyard to understand the boundary (Govan Cross Townscape Heritage Initiative, 2014). In addition, Govan Old was surrounded by shipbuilders and shipyards in 1932. The memory of Govan Church and even the past glories in Govan throughout history is deeply rooted in residents’ lives and could be the identity of people in the Govan’s Community. According to Karin Dannehl, most of the artifacts could enjoy a mode of life cycle – a biography (Dannehl, 2018). For St Constantine’s Sarcophagus, the exact life experience might be difficult to trace back, however, it could be seen that it has experienced at least from carving-producing, being transported, anointing, dedicating, worshiping, burying, unearthing and finally settling in church through early medieval period to nowadays. In this case, Govan, Govan Old and the Govan Community have shared an identical life trajectory in history, one biography of them can reflect the other two. Therefore, the project team attempted to construct an interpretative biography of St Constantine’s Sarcophagus to reflect the fates in Govan Church and even the Community.