Glasgow Cathedral 890

Following two years of independent research, 3D-modelling, and digital painting, I developed and launched a custom Virtual Reality installation recreating Bishop John’s 1136 Glasgow Cathedral. The project debuted live at Glasgow Cathedral as part of the historic Glasgow Cathedral 890 celebrations.

My Role: Sole Researcher, 3D Environment Artist, Painter, and Headset Fabricator.

This is a fly-through of a reconstruction I made of Bishop John's Cathedral at Glasgow, consecrated on July 7th 1136, for the Society of Friends of Glasgow Cathedral.

It was a privilege to launch this as part of the Glasgow Cathedral 890 celebrations. Bringing a project of this scale to life takes an incredible community, and I owe a massive debt of gratitude to the team who made it happen.

The celebration on Tuesday July 7th 2026 was lifted entirely by the music. Fraser Pearce gave an exceptional performance, not only conducting the choir but stepping up to sing the introit solo and chants.

While Director of Music Andrew Forbes couldn’t join us on the day, his work behind the scenes has been vital. He has prepared and recorded these historic pieces in immersive ambisonics. It's intended this spatial audio will be integrated into the VR headset at a later date, hearing the live preview was unforgettable.

Heartfelt thanks to Prof. Richard Oram and Prof. Stephen Driscoll for their invaluable guidance and input on the medieval context and detail about the archaeological findings and for Prof. Oram's kind introduction at the event.

Thank you also to Neil Baxter and the Rev. Mark Johnstone for directing me to the "Vita Sancti Kentigerni" text, which inspired the mural cycles.

A very special thank you must also go to Dr Irene O'Brien and Glasgow City Archives for bringing the historic missal fragment for display, as one of the only surviving artefacts originally housed in the 1136 building. Having it there added an incredible layer of tangible history to the afternoon.

Shout out to Tamas Giczi for his enthusiasm and assistance on our very first headset prototype, as well as his photos from the event.

This event simply would not have run without the Society of Friends, particularly Colin Campbell, Grace Heller, and Paul Noble, who worked tirelessly to promote and organise everything. And a special thank you to Moira—a chance conversation with you is what sparked this entire collaboration!

None of this research would be possible without my partner Rachel, who accompanied me travelling around Britain with a measuring tape to record the dimensions of 12th century masonry.

Process

Conjectural Plan, Axonometric, by James Fallan

Rachel measuring 12th century masonry at St Bees

Photograph by James Fallan

I used comparative analysis, cross referencing Stephen Driscoll's archaeological finds with contemporary building campaigns connected to David I and bishop John, and further afield.

This was an iterative process where the model above changed depending on the available data.

An example is the interpretation of the 70cm half drums, after ruling out their use in a chancel arch or crypt due to their unusual scale and large quantity, I interpreted them as nave pier. I used contemporary arcades with nave piers of a similar scale to determine the intercolumniation of the nave.

Another example is the dis-engaged shaft discovered at Glasgow by Driscoll perfectly matches the west door at St Bee's in Cumbria (pictured right), a contemporary building to Bishop John's cathedral.

This informed the design of the west door.

The West gable is directly informed by the archaeology while the Eastern arm is assumed based on the location of St Mungo's tomb.

The exhibition shows this conjectural 1136 cathedral in VR mapped to the exact location where it is displayed in Glasgow Cathedral.

Death of St Mungo, Process 1

Death of St Mungo, Process 2

Death of St Mungo, Process 10

Death of St Mungo, Process 1

1/10

Digital Paintings, Graphics Tablet, by James Fallan

The mural cycle, and geometric patterns in the model are hand painted using a graphics tablet.

I composed them by tracing multiple 12th century sources, and compiling the tracings into new scenes.

The colour-scheme is determined by the pigment analysis outlined in Stephen Driscoll's "Excavations at Glasgow Cathedral 1988-1997", I used the hex codes associated with this limited palette to build up the colours.

Above is an example of the process.

Headset

I made a custom headset for this installation to be more sympathetic with it's Cathedral surroundings than a standard headset.

It incorporates the acanthus design of the painted voussoir on display in the lower church, expressed in marquetry.

The voussoir is sometimes attributed to the 1136 building. It looks more likely to be part of Jocelin's 1197 successor, but it is still one of the only examples of 12th century polychromy in Scotland, and is from the site.