At some point the cathedral grounds had become the burial ground for Elgin . The town council arranged for the boundary wall to be repaired in 1685 but significantly , the council ordered that the stones from the cathedral should not be used for that purpose . Although the building was becoming increasingly unstable the chapterhouse continued to be used for meetings of the Incorporated Trades from 1671 to 1676 and then again from 1701 to around 1731 . No attempt was made to stabilise the structure and on Easter Sunday 1711 the central tower gave way , demolishing the nave . Following this collapse , the " quarrying " of the cathedral 's stone work for local projects began . Many artists visited Elgin to sketch the ruins , and it is from their work that the slow but continuing ruination can be observed . By the closing years of the 18th century , travellers to Elgin began to visit the ruin , and pamphlets giving the history of the cathedral was prepared for those early tourists . In 1773 Samuel Johnson recorded , " a paper was put into our hands , which deduced from sufficient authorities the history of this venerable ruin . "