Melrose Abbey, Melrose (Borders)

14c Abbey

Summary 14th century buildings Guided tours Gift shop Free car parking (on site)

Introduction

Melrose Abbey is a magnificent ruin on a grand scale with lavishly decorated masonry. The abbey is the burial place of Robert the Bruce’s heart, now marked with a commemorative carved stone plaque. Visitors can also enjoy a small museum housing a display of artefacts found within the abbey. 

Open all year, Apr-Sep, daily 9.30-5.30; Oct-Mar, daily 9.30-4.30. Closed 25-26 Dec & 1-2 Jan.
 

History to the present day

Melrose Abbey, founded in 1136 by David I, was the first monastery of the Cistercian order established in Scotland. The Cistercians were drawn to this fertile spot beside the River Tweed because of its intimate associations with the holy men St Aidan and St Cuthbert, whose monastery lay downriver at Old Melrose.

The monks came from the Cistercians’ great northern English missionary base of Rievaulx, Yorkshire. Monastic life continued for the next 450 years. The last monk, Dan Jo Watson, died around 1590. The crumbling abbey church continued in use as a parish church, until a new kirk was built nearby in 1810.

The great abbey church of St Mary the Virgin at Melrose loomed large in the lives of many people, on both sides of the border with England. Powerful people endowed it richly, and a hallowed few were privileged to be buried there. They included King Alexander II (died 1249) and the heart of Robert Bruce (died 1329), whose body was interred at Dunfermline Abbey.

Such was the fame and importance of Melrose that it attracted unwanted attention from the English throughout the later Middle Ages. Attacks by Edward I (1300 and 1307) and Edward II (1322) necessitated major repairs. Richard II’s attack in 1385 led to a complete rebuilding of the abbey church. Further depredations during the ‘Wars of the Rough Wooing’ in the 1540s caused yet more ruination. 

Only a very small fragment survives of the first abbey church. The present beautiful rose-stoned building dates almost entirely to the post-1385 rebuilding. Nevertheless, this is regarded as one of the most magnificent examples of medieval church architecture anywhere in the British Isles. The presbytery at the east end, where the high altar once stood, the monks’ choir and transepts, and part of the nave are still remarkably intact.

Other facilities

Audio tour and children’s trail available. 

Arrival information and how to find us

Address: , Borders, , United Kingdom

 In Melrose off the A7 or A68.