Crossraguel Abbey

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Crossraguel Abbey

Monastery information
Order Cluniac
Mother house Paisley Abbey
Established 1260s
Disestablished 1617
Diocese Diocese of Glasgow
Controlled churches Dailly; Girvan; Inchmarnock; Kirkudbright-Innertig; Kirkoswald; Straiton
People
Founder Donnchadh, Earl of Carrick
Location {{{location}}}
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Crossraguel Abbey ruins
Crossraguel Abbey ruins

The Abbey of Saint Mary of Crossraguel[1] is a ruin of a former abbey near the town of Maybole, South Ayrshire, Scotland.

Contents

[edit] Foundation

Founded in 1244 by Donnchadh, Earl of Carrick, following an earlier donation of 1225, to the monks of Paisley Abbey for that purpose. They reputedly built nothing more than a small chapel and kept the balance for themselves. The Earl took the matter to the Bishop of Glasgow for arbitration and, winning his case, forced the monks to build a proper abbey.[2]

[edit] Name

The origin of the abbey's name is unclear but may refer to the ancient Cross of Riaghail (Latin form St Regulus) that stood on the spot. Crossraguel was a Cluniac abbey and the monks - members of a branch of the Benedictines - were known as the "Black monks" after the colour of their clothes.

Crossraguel was sacked in 1307 by the army of Edward I. It was rebuilt on a larger scale and remained a monastery until 1560, when the Reformation ended monastic institutions in Scotland. Some of the stone has been removed for local construction, but the Abbey ruins remain some of the most complete of any medieval religious house to survive in Scotland. The site is looked after by Historic Scotland and is open to the public with an entrance charge.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Charters of Crossraguel Abbey, Intro lxii
  2. ^ ibidem pp. 1-6

[edit] Sources

  • Ayrshire and Galloway Archaeological Association,Charters of Crossraguel Abbey, II Vols. Edinburgh 1886 [1]

[edit] External links

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