Is there an underground chamber hidden beneath the Chapel?
The Chapel is built on compacted sand which forms a solid and secure foundation. It is thought that the lower Chapel (also known as the Sacristy or Crypt) was the original Rosslyn Castle, which the Sinclairs abandoned on the advice of an English prisoner-of-war after the triple Battle of Roslin (1330), moving to the present site on a narrow promontory of rock high above the river. Sir Walter Scott, who came to live nearby at Lasswade Cottage at the time of his marriage, often walked over to Rosslyn (and once nearly slipped down to his death in the river!). His ‘Lay of the Last Minstrel’ describes the Barons of Rosslyn lying in full armour in the chambers under the Chapel. These chambers would have been part of the foundation reinforcement. In recent years drilling has taken place with a camera, but as soon as the drill and camera penetrated into these lower chambers sand flowed in. Such invasive explorations are no longer permitted as they would compromise the stability of the mediaeva
