Glenluce Abbey

I always enjoy a visit to the ruins of abbeys such as these which are away from towns, because usually there are few, if any, other people there.

It gives you a chance to meditate on the people who founded these Monasteries, and the good they managed to achieve. I do understand that in a number of Abbeys, there was a loss of the Spiritual purpose, and that their increasing prosperity led some astray.

But the majority of Monasteries and Abbeys were great places of prayer, learning, hospitality and medical care for those who lived around the Abbey. The poor could always find help there. The monks were very skilled in agriculture, animal farming and water management. At Fountains Abbey, I was surprised to see how fair was the historical account given of the seizing of the Monasteries and their wealth and lands by King Henry VIII.

And in his History of the Protestant Reformation, Cobbett gives an honest and very clear account of what happened to the weak when the monasteries were closed. This book can be read on line. Well worth the reading!

So. Glenluce Abbey. This Cicerstian  Abbey was founded around 1190 by Roland, Lord of Galloway.
It lies in a secluded valley, and it is believed that the monks who settled there had come from Dundrennan Abbey near Kirkcudbright.
Although monastic life lasted here for over 400 years, little is known of its history, but the monks there would have followed the austere Cicerstain life style.

At the Reformation in 1560, the 15 monks resident there accepted the reformed religion and were allowed to remain there. Shortly after 1572, Abbot Thomas and  the remaining 5 brothers disappeared from sight, and 400 years of prayer there came to an end.

The ruins are interesting. There has been some reconstruction which gives a sense of what it would have been like in its time. The Chapter house still stands roofed and doored. Sadly though, the property has been unmanned for over a year, and there is no access to this building or the small museum in the office, where floor tiles and such like are displayed. Around the ruin, it is easy to see the water system still with lead pipes from all those years ago.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenluce_Abbey

http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/propertyresults/propertyoverview.htm?PropID=pl_143

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