From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Balmerino Abbey, or St Edward's Abbey, in Balmerino, Fife, Scotland, was a Cistercian monastic community founded in 1227 to 1229 by monks from Melrose Abbey with the patronage of Ermengarde de Beaumont and King Alexander II of Scotland. It remained a daughter house of Melrose. It had approximately 20 monks at the beginning of the sixteenth century, but declined in that century. In December 1547 it was burned by an English force, and allegedly burned again in 1559 by Scottish Protestants. In 1606 and 1607 it was created as a secular lordship for James Elphinstone, 1st Lord Balmerino.
[edit] Current condition
Balmerino Abbey (photographed 7 October 2007)
The abbey is now under the stewardship of the National Trust for Scotland, and a small entrance fee is requested at an honesty box, with no ticket booth or manned presence on-site. The ruin consists of a substantial section of the east wall of the main church. More substantial ruins of some of the associated buildings exist to the side of this but access is currently prohibited due to their poor state of repair.
As of summer 2007, a sign on site states that entrance fees will be used to contribute towards a possible future stabilisation of these ruins in order to improve safety for visitors to enter once again.
[edit] Bibliography
- Cowan, Ian B. & Easson, David E., Medieval Religious Houses: Scotland With an Appendix on the Houses in the Isle of Man, Second Edition, (London, 1976), pp. 72-3
- Watt, D.E.R. & Shead, N.F. (eds.), The Heads of Religious Houses in Scotland from the 12th to the 16th Centuries, The Scottish Records Society, New Series, Volume 24, (Edinburgh, 2001), pp. 12-15
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
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Cistercian monasteries in Scotland |
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| Melrose filiation (from Rievaulx) |
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| Dundrennan filiation (from Rievaulx) |
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| Mellifont filiation *** (from Cîteaux) |
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* Founded by Kinloss Abbey.
** In England, but at the time of foundation (1150), part of the territory of David I, King of Scots.
*** Meaning from Mellifont Abbey in Ireland, founded in 1142.
**** If it existed, it was shortly afterwards replaced by a Premonstratensian establishment. |
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Coordinates: 56°24′33″N 3°02′28″W / 56.40917, -3.04111
