Tour
Dunfermline Abbey
Situated
at the centre of Dunfermline in W Fife, Dunfermline Abbey
stands on a ridge that falls steeply on the south and west
to the course of the Tower Burn which flows through Pittencrieff
Park.
The original Benedictine priory was founded in the 1070s
by Queen Margaret on the site of an earlier chapel of the
Celtic Church and in 1128 her son David I extended the building
and increased its status by making it an abbey. The western
part of the present building is the nave of the Abbey church
built by David I between 1128 and 1150. The eastern end,
with the tower bearing the words 'King Robert the Bruce',
is the new parish kirk that was built on part of the ruins
of the old abbey in 1818-21.
In medieval times the abbey became a major ecclesiastical
centre and was the burial place of several Scottish monarchs
including Malcolm Canmore, his wife Queen Margaret and Robert
the Bruce whose tomb was rediscovered in 1818. Queen Margaret
was canonized in 1250 and a chapel and shrine were built
at the east end and centre of the abbey. Subsequently in
1303, the abbey was destroyed by Edward I of England who
recognised the significance of the site as a focal point
of Scottish nationalism. Partially rebuilt, it was further
damaged during the Reformation in the 16th century.
The adjacent royal palace of Dunfermline grew out of the
guest house of the abbey after its closure during the Reformation
and was given as a wedding present to Anne of Denmark by
her husband James VI in 1589. Prior to the Union of the
Crowns in 1603 Anne of Denmark stayed here from time to
time, and in 1600 her son, later to become Charles I, was
born here.
Today there is a Dunfermline Abbey and Palace Visitor Centre.
