A Cistercian abbey in the lowlands of Scotland - Dundrennan Abbey

Near Kirkcudbright in the lowlands of Scotland stands a tranquil and beautiful monastery once home to Cistercian monks, Dundrennan Abbey.

Dundrennan was founded in 1142 by monks from Rievaulx in Yorkshire and was one of the largest monastic sites in Scotland. It is built in the typical Cistercian layout with the church to the north and the domestic buildings to the south. King David I granted the foundation of Dundrennan and likely saw it as a way of expressing his support of the reform of the Scottish Church.

The abbey went on to become the mother house of two more Cistercian houses in Scotland - Glenluce Abbey, founded in 1191, and Sweetheart Abbey, founded in 1273.

Dundrennan was the place that Mary Queen of Scots spent her last hours in Scotland. She had been imprisoned in Lochleven Castle, having been forced to abdicate the Scottish throne. She managed to escape and raised an army of 6,000 to go into battle to reclaim the throne. She was defeat at the Battle of Langside and retreated south. This brought her to Dundrennan on May 15th 1568. It was Mary's intention to cross the Solway firth into England so she could appeal for help from her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I. She managed to do this the following morning, sailing to Workington in modern day Cumbria in a small fishing boat. She would never return to Scotland.

Interesting features:

  • The grave cover of an unknown former abbot - interesting as it gives a fantastic depiction of how an abbot would have dressed and how a crozier would have looked. Also interesting due to the fact that the abbot is depicted with a knife in his heart. It is possible that this depicts an abbot of Dundrennan who was assassinated.
  • Grave slab of a nun, not something common in a monastery like this. The nun may well be Blanche, one of the last nuns serving at near by Lincluden Nunnery. She, and her sister, were removed from the nunnery when it was suppressed in the 1300s.

Location: Dundrennan, Kirkcudbright DG6 4QH, UK

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