Dunfermline Abbey and Palace
One of the great things about living in Scotland is, no matter where you stay, you are never far from an exciting and impressive site, steeped in tradition and history. It’s often remarked that many of us don’t appreciate what is on our own doorsteps, and for folk living in Central, Dunfermline Abbey and Palace is one of those places most will have heard of, but a good deal fewer will have actually made the effort to go and visit it.
The palace is a ruin, there is no other way to describe it. You can walk through the layout of what would have been the ground floor and the cellar below the kitchens with its arches is impressive. I’ve noted before that I like to purchase the guide book as not only helps towards the upkeep of these places, but provides fascinating detail. The thirty-two page pamphlet which is the official souvenir guide is well worth it, as it helps to illustrate the lost buildings of this complex and provides an idea of the sheer scale of how it was centuries ago. Along with the Guesthouse and Royal Palace, there were the Cloisters where the monks spent their days along with the Chapter House and dormitory. These structures are long gone, but the guide book has an artists impression of how the site would have looked from the air if it had all survived. The book also points out that today the ruins can be difficult to understand so again it’s worth taking the time to study the official guide to gain the most from your visit.
The star of the show is the Abbey which is a working church. Queen Margaret established the first monastery here in 1070, with the Abbey rebuilt in the 1320’s during the time of King Robert I, the Bruce. In 1821 a new Parish church was completed on the site of the medieval choir and this continues to the present day. Queen Margaret was made a saint in 1249 and a shrine created in her honour. Her husband Malcolm III is also buried on the site where they married.
A fair number of Scottish royalty are buried here, the most well-known being Robert the Bruce in 1329. It was during the building of the new parish church in 1818, that the remains of Bruce were believed to have been discovered. These were moved and are now in front of the church’s pulpit, beneath an impressive brass memorial. I particularly like that when you stand outside and look up you can see King Robert the Bruce carved in stone letters around the highest point of the church tower.
It is a pity so many of these buildings are in such a state of disrepair. The cost to rebuild a reproduction would be astronomical so I’m hopeful that with the growth of virtual technology we may in future be able to don virtual reality headsets and be able to experience these sites as they were centuries ago. I’m not aware at the time of writing of this being available, and again this will still be a considerable cost to meet, but I’m hoping this will be an option in future. As I noted at the start of this blog, so many folk don’t take the time to visit what is on their doorstep and I wouldn’t want virtual technology to compound that. For me this wouldn’t be a substitute for not going out to the original location, but would be welcome when not practical to do so.
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