Name: DUNDRENNAN Location: Dundrennan
village County: Dumfries and Galloway Foundation: 1142 Mother house: Rievaulx Relocation: None Founder: King David I / Fergus lord
of Galloway Secularised: 1606 Prominent members: Access: Historic Scotland open to the public
Dundrennan Abbey was founded in 1142. Whereas
most sources attribute the foundation to King David, this was
possibly
made in collaboration with his friend, Fergus of Galloway. It may
be the case that King David asked Fergus to grant lands for the
foundation of a Cistercian abbey at Dundrennan in order to bring
more literate men into Scotland, and to provide administration
and
pastoral care. The name (Dun-nan-droigheann) means fort of
the thorn bushes, for the site was on the cliffs overlooking
the Solway Firth, and surrounded by heath and marsh. It is thought
that
the monks came from Rievaulx although
there is no recorded evidence. However, St. Aelred
of Rievaulx visited the abbey on more than
one
occasion and in 1167 the first abbot of Dundrennan, Sylvanus, was
elected to succeed Aelred as abbot of Rievaulx. At least one
other
abbot went on to become the head of Rievaulx Abbey, in
1239. The abbey prospered in the first hundred years of its existence.
Fergus looked on the abbey with favour and his family were to endow
the Cistercian Order with lands and sites for two more abbeys
and
a nunnery. The monks of Dundrennan maintained their own ships at
abbey Burnfoot and from there they engaged in trade with Europe.
By the end of the thirteenth century the abbey
was experiencing some financial difficulties due to the losses
incurred
during the Scottish War of Independence. In 1299 the abbot sought
compensation from King Edward I of England for damages to the monastery
amounting
to £8000. In 1328 the abbey appealed to Edward III for the
restoration of their estates in Ireland from which they had been
expelled. Despite these troubles Dundrennan does not seem to have
suffered unduly from the various wars with England. Nevertheless,
by 1529, the abbey buildings had fallen into a state of ruin and
in 1561 the annual income of the monastery was assessed at just
£500, making Dundrennan the poorest Cistercian house in Scotland.
However, this figure may not represent the full income and the
abbey
was still supporting a community of twelve at the time of the Reformation.
From c. 1523 the abbey was held in commendam, firstly
by John Maxwell and then by Henry, bishop of Galloway. Adam
Blacadder,
the last pre-reformation commendator, was appointed to the post
in 1541.
In 1567 Mary Queen of Scots spent her last
night on Scottish soil in Dundrennan Abbey, after being forced
to abdicate
in favour of her infant son, James VI. Following his death the
commendatorship was granted to Edward Maxwell, son of John Maxwell,
in 1562. For
the next thirty-six years the post was held by members of the Maxwell
family. The last commendator was John Murray who succeeded to
the
position in 1598/9. Seven years later the abbey was erected into
a temporal lordship for Murray, who was made Earl of Annandale.
In 1621 the abbey was annexed to the royal chapel at Stirling and
for many years it was used as a source of building materials for
the construction of houses in the vicinity. In 1838 the owner, Adam
Maitland, excavated the site and in the following year he offered
to wave his rights of ownership. In 1840 it was ruled that the site
was now Crown property and further excavations were carried out
at various times during the proceeding century and a half.
Today
the most extensive remains are of the transepts and the entrance
arches to the chapter-house. Nothing else in the precinct remains
standing to any height although much of the foundation masonry is
visible. The monastery was constructed with local freestone ashlar,
which contrasts with many of the other Scottish abbeys, built, as
they were, with warm-coloured sandstone. A point of interest on
the site is an effigy of an abbot set into the recess of the west
wall of the abbey church. He has a dagger in his chest and at his
feet is another figure, with a wound in the abdomen: it clearly
depicts the assassination of one of Dundrennans abbots. The
abbey is now in the care of Historic Scotland and is open to the
public at regular times during the year. The site has a souvenir
shop with a good stock of books on the history of Scotland, the
Cistercian Order and Mary Queen of Scots.