High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Church architecture in Scotland incorporates all church building within the modern borders of Scotland, from the earliest Christian structures in the sixth century until the present day. The early Christian churches for which there is evidence are basic masonry-built constructions on the west coast and islands. As Christianity spread, Medieval parish churches tended to remain much simpler than their English counterparts. By the eighth century more sophisticated Romanesque ashlar block-built buildings. From the eleventh century, larger and more ornate buildings began to be produced, as with Dunfermline Abbey and St Magnus Cathedral in Orkney. From the twelfth century the introduction of new monastic orders led to a boom in ecclesiastical building, often using English and Continental forms. From the thirteenth century elements of the European Gothic style began to appear in Scotland, cumulating in buildings like Glasgow Cathedral and the rebuilding of Melrose Abbey. Renaissance influences can be seen in a move to a low-massive style that was probably influenced by contacts with Italy and the Netherlands.