Cambuskenneth Abbey
Cambuskenneth Abbey (also Abbey of St Mary of Stirling , Stirling Abbey ) is the ruin of a late medieval monastery of the Arrouaise or later Augustinian order near Stirling in Scotland . It is located in a meander loop opposite the city. Apart from a free-standing bell tower, the remains of a portal, and the remains of a residential or farm building on the river bank, the building fabric is largely reduced to the foundation walls. The neighboring modern village of Cambuskenneth was named after the former monastery.
history
Establishment and Early History
King David I had Cambuskenneth Abbey built around 1140 as part of his efforts to renew and reform the Scottish Church. The abbey was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and therefore originally known as the Abbey of St Mary of Stirling . Occasionally it was also named Stirling Abbey in abbreviated form . The main street that leads from the royal residence in Stirling Castle up Castle Hill towards the Abbey is still called St. Mary's Wynd today .
Cambuskenneth was one of the most important abbeys in Scotland, in part due to its proximity to the royal city of Stirling, a leading urban center in the country which was a strategic gateway to the north of Scotland, and at some time its capital. Its status as a royal abbey near a large national fortress can be compared to that of Holyrood Abbey across from Edinburgh . The royal family, including King Edward of England and later King Robert the Bruce of Scotland , frequented the abbey and held devotions. The Scottish national hero William Wallace spent part of his youth around 1290 with an uncle who was a cleric in the abbey. Robert I held his parliament here in 1314, shortly after the Battle of Bannockburn , and in 1326 ; the latter, on the one hand, to confirm the successor of his son David and, ultimately, to regulate the transfer of royal dignity to the Stuart family in the event of the heirless death, which should take place in 1371 with the coronation of Robert Stuart . In 1383 Cambuskenneth was burned down by the army of the English King Richard II and then repaired. The extent to which these construction measures were reflected in the final appearance can no longer be seen from the floor plan that is accessible today.
In 1486 Margaret of Denmark died near Stirling Castle and was buried in the abbey. When her husband Jacob III. died on June 11, 1488 in the battle of Sauchieburn , just under 5 km south of the abbey, in the fight against rebellious nobles, his body was also taken to the monastery for burial. In 1865 the tomb was opened by Col. Sir James Alexander, who found two skeletons, which, however, largely fell apart. The classicist sarcophagus with coat of arms and Latin inscription that is visible today dates from the 1860s. It was donated by Queen Victoria and placed in the area of the grave in front of the former high altar. Jacob's son, Jacob IV , also prepared his burial at Cambuskenneth Abbey, but was probably buried in Sheen Monastery in Surrey after his death in the Battle of Flodden Field in 1513 , where his body was lost in the turmoil of the Reformation .
Decline
The abbey lost its importance during the Scottish Reformation . In 1559 only a few monks lived there . The abbey was closed and most of the buildings burned down and looted. The former abbey was then under the jurisdiction of the Military Governor of Stirling Castle, who removed most of the masonry from the church and outbuildings in order to use them for construction work in the castle. This administrator, John Erskine 17th Earl of Mar , guardian of Jacob V and Maria Stuart , is also said to have used large parts of the ruins to build his magnificent city palace in Stirling, Mar's Wark .
From the once prosperous abbey only knee-high ruins are mostly preserved today. Only the free-standing bell tower from the late 13th century in the southwest of the earlier church with preserved figural depictions of the parapet area is completely intact. It appears today as it was after a renovation in 1865.
The abbey was acquired by the British Crown in 1908 and is administered by Historic Scotland . The monastery grounds are fenced and open to visitors in summer. The first floor of the bell tower can be visited. The stairs to the upper floors are locked, but are opened occasionally.
Abbey church and monastery building
The abbey church from the early 13th century was a long, narrow basilica with a set rectangular choir, short transept arms , a square crossing tower and an angular choir closure. The choir area was separated from the nave and the transept arms by solid walls. The floor plan is reminiscent of buildings of the Cistercian order . The nave had only one north aisle, possibly an extension from the later 13th or early 14th century, and thus appears asymmetrical. To the east there was a cloister as well as the residential and economic buildings of the monks, including a refectory and the chapter house . To the east, right next to a modern homestead in the loop of the river Forth , there are still large remains of walls from two residential and farm buildings .
Web links
- Entry on Cambuskenneth Abbey in Canmore, Historic Environment Scotland database
- Undiscovered Scotland information page with photos and an isometric reconstruction
- Historic Scotland information page
Coordinates: 56 ° 7 '23 " N , 3 ° 55' 3" W.