Balmerino Abbey - Fife, Scotland.
Posted by: 
creg-ny-baa
N 56° 24.591 W 003° 02.503
30V E 497425 N 6251697
Ruined abbey, now owned by the National Trust for Scotland, in the village of Balmerino on the southern shore of the Firth of Tay in the Kingdom of Fife, Scotland.
Waymark Code: WM121H9
Location: Northern Scotland, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 02/02/2020
Views: 4
In 1229 Queen Ermengarde, widow of William the Lion and mother of Alexander II, invited Cistercians at Melrose Abbey to set up a daughter house at Balmerino in north-east Fife on the southern shore of the Firth of Tay. Twelve Cistercian monks, led by Abbot Alan, arrived on foot from Melrose.
The abbey was eventually fully completed by the turn of the 14th century in red sandstone and remained so until being attacked and burned by the English Army under the Earl of Hertford in 1547. It was quickly repaired, but fared much worse during the reformation in 1559, much of the stonework being plundered and going into the building of nearby homes.
Some of the building was spared however, and was converted into a private residence, later a home for James Elphinstone, 1st Lord Balmerino.
The building eventually fell into decline and was part saved by restoration work in 1910. In 1936 the Earl of Dundee donated the ruins to the National Trust for Scotland.
Today, the only remains are the walls and vaultings of the sacristy, chapter house and parlour. Queen Ermengarde's grave and the alter is marked by a large wooden cross. Visitors can view the site, but are forbidden from entering the unsafe ruins.