Lindores Abbey

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Ruins of Lindores Abbey

Lindores Abbey was a Tironensian abbey on the outskirts of Newburgh in Fife, Scotland. Now a ruin, it lies on the southern banks of the River Tay, about 1 mile north of the village of Lindores. The abbey was founded as a daughter house of Kelso Abbey in the about 1191 (some sources say 1178) by David, Earl of Huntingdon, brother of William the Lion. The first abbot was Guido, Prior of Kelso, under whom the buildings were mosly completed. The church, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and St. Andrew, was 195 feet long, with transepts 110 feet long. Edward I of England, John Balliol, David II, and James III were among the monarchs who visited Lindores at different times. David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay, who perished mysteriously at Falkland Palace, not far off, was buried at Lindores in 1402. The earliest record of scotch whisky is a 1494 commission from King James VI to Friar John Cor of Lindores Abbey to make about 580 kg of aquavitae. The abbey was sacked by a mob from Dundee in 1543, and again by John Knox and his supporters in 1559. In the following years the abbey buildings were 'quarried' as a source of stone for buildings in Newburgh. All that remains of the abbey is the groined archway of the principal entrance, and part of the chancel walls and of the western tower of the church, although the ground plan of the whole structure can still be traced.