Publication Account
Date 1985
Event ID 1016588
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016588
The ruins of this abbey, fonnerly known as the Abbey ofSt Mary of Stirling, lie in a bend of the Forth and are overlooked by the major medieval castle and town of Stirling. Founded in c 1147 by David I (c 1084-1153), the abbey was a daughter house of the French Augustinian monastery of St Nicholas at Arras and, because of its proximity to the royal castle at Stirling, it was the setting for a number of important historical events, which included meetings of Parliament in the 14th century and a visit by Edward I of England in 1303-4. During the Wars ofIndependence (1296-1357), the abbey suffered structural damage and was pillaged of much of its furniture and treasure. In 1559 the abbey was dissolved and the buildings were subsequently used as stone quarries for Stirling-some of the stone being removed to build Mar's Work (no. 12) and Cowane's Hospital (no. 13).
Although founded in the mid 12th century, the main period of construction did not take place until late in the following century when a cruciform church flanked on the south by a cloister, chapter-house and refectory were built These have now been reduced to little more than their foundations, and much of what can be seen today is the result of reconstruction during the 19th century. In the course of excavations in 1865 what are believed to have been the coffins of James III (died 1488) and his queen, Margaret of Denmark, were found near the high altar. The royal remains were subsequently reburied at the expense of Queen Victoria, and the new tomb can be seen on the site of the fonner high altar.
The best-preserved, but heavily restored, part of the abbey is the bell-tower, which lies to the north-west of the church. It is the only surviving example from medieval Scotland of a free-standing belfry-a type of building more familiar in Italy. The tower was probably erected some time after the church and abbey buildings but its precise date of construction is unknown.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: The Clyde Estuary and Central Region’, (1985).
