Overview
The grounds are accessible.
Due to access restrictions in place as a precautionary measure while we undertake high level masonry inspections, there is currently no visitor access to the abbey. Find out more about our conservation work
Enjoy the peaceful atmosphere at this ruined medieval abbey, set in tree-fringed pastures. See original paintwork and hear your voice echo in the medieval chapter house, and find the effigy of a murdered abbot, with his executed assassin at his feet. Mary Queen of Scots spent her last hours in Scotland here in May 1568, after the disastrous Battle of Langside.
Now a ruin, the 12th-century abbey was home to a community of Cistercian monks for 400 years. The peaceful woodland location fitted very much with the Cistercian ideal, described by Abbot Ailred of Rievaulx as: “Everywhere peace, everywhere serenity, and a marvellous freedom from the tumult of the world”.
