Tuesday, 11 October 2011

Kelso Abbey

























During our short break in Northumberland, we ventured back across the border into Scotland.


People speak differently there, and they have different money from England........



We spent a couple of hours in Kelso, a Scottish border town.



Just behind the town square lie the ruins of Kelso Abbey.


The Abbey was founded in the 12th century by Tironensian monks, from Tiron, near Chartres.


This Community had entered Scotland in 1113, under the patronage of David I, while his brother Alexander I was king of Scotland.



They began at Selkirk, but abandoned that site and moved to Kelso in 1128, the abbey being dedicated to The Blessed Virgin and St John in 1143.




Being close to the border, the abbey was often caught up in the frequent wars between Scotland and England.


In 1299 the abbot was an Englishman Thomas de Durham, but the abbey always kept it's Scottish identity.



In 1460, King James II was killed withing sight of the Abbey. The infant James III was hastily crowned at the Abbey, and from then until 1540, control in the area was more settled and life became more settled.



Events in the mid sixteenth Century brought about the demise of the Abbey. It was seriously damaged under the orders of King Henry VIII of England as part of the so-called "Rough Wooing." Most of the border Abbeys such as Melrose and Jedburgh and Dryburgh were targeted for destruction by the English Army.



In 1560, the Protestant Reformation brought about the forced closure of all the Abbeys, and the Tironensian Community were no longer officially recognised by the Scottish Government.



In its time, Kelso Abbey was recognised as one of the finest examples of Romanesque architecture.




































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