Melrose Abbey

After another delicious breakfast we headed south to the Borders. There were several Abbey ruins that we wanted to visit.

We started at Kelso Abbey, then Jedburgh Abbey, and lastly we visited Melrose Abbey. The enormity of these ruins is just mind boggling! To be able to see them in their heyday must have been amazing!

Kelso Abbey is what remains of a Scottish abbey founded in the 12th century by a community of Tironensian monks.

Jedburgh Abbey, a ruined Augustinian abbey was also founded in the 12th century. I was most impressed by this abbey. It must have been huge!

Of all the abbey's visited, Melrose abbey was the most intact and is a Gothic-style abbey. It was founded in 1136 by Cistercian monks, on the request of King David I of Scotland. It is said that the embalmed heart of King Robert the Bruce was buried here. According to Wikipedia, in 1996 an archaeological excavation on the site unearthed a conical lead container and an engraved copper plaque that read "The enclosed leaden casket containing a heart was found beneath Chapter House floor, March 1921, by His Majesty's Office of Works"; the lead container was not opened, but it is assumed that since there are no records of anyone else's heart being buried at Melrose that it was indeed the heart of Robert I. The container was reburied at Melrose Abbey on June 22, 1998.

We ended our day at another wonderful B&B, where we were upgraded to a much larger room!