Oblique aerial view centred on Melrose Abbey.

Description Oblique aerial view centred on Melrose Abbey.

Date 1968

Collection John Dewar

Catalogue Number RX 3814

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 1544690

Scope and Content Aerial view of Melrose Abbey, Scottish Borders This aerial view from the north, taken in 1968, shows the abbey with the church in the centre. In front of the church are the foundations of the domestic buildings, with, in the foreground, the great drain which took away the waste water from the abbey, and drove its corn mill. Part of the nave was adapted as the parish church after the Reformation, and roofed with a new barrel vault, as can be seen to the right of the crossing. The section of the nave to the right may never have been completed. The former commendator's house towards the bottom right is now the abbey museum. Melrose Abbey was the first Cistercian abbey in Scotland, founded here in 1136 by King David I. Much of the abbey was destroyed in the 13th century, and it was rebuilt in a more elaborate manner between 1385 and the 16th century, though the west end of the church was never completed. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

External Reference 5053/3

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/153096