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Dunfermline Abbey
Their youngest son, David I, rebuilt the church on a grander scale with work starting around 1128. The eastern part of this has since been destroyed and replaced with a new church, but much of the nave (the western part) has survived - although not without many changes.
Robert the Bruce had helped rebuild the refectory and was buried in the abbey, although his body went undiscovered until building began on a new parish church in 1821. A plaque beneath the pulpit marks the spot where his body was then laid to rest and a tower added with the words King Robert the Bruce included round the top.
A decision was made at the time the new church was built to preserve the nave in the condition it was in. Further repairs were made between 1847 and 1849, but the building was left much as it is seen now. In 1587 James VI had passed the Act of Annexation in an attempt to reclaim as much church property as he could for the Crown. The abbey, palace and the remaining monastic buildings are now looked after by Historic Scotland. |
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Queen
Margaret started building a Benedictine priory in 1072, the remains
of which can be seen through grilles beneath the nave of the present church; these remains were found in 1916 and have been marked out by brass
strips on the floor.
It
is not known what existed on the site prior to Margaret setting up a religious
community here. Parts of the church may have been added after the deaths of Malcolm Canmore and Queen
Margaret; a shrine was added to the eastern end of
the abbey due to the number of pilgrims visiting the abbey.
In
1560 the abbey buildings were sacked and by 1563 the church
building was roofless and starting to fall down.
Following the sacking of the abbey buildings, preliminary repairs were
made to the nave c.1570 as the building was still being used; the
buttresses were added, to the south side in 1620 and to the north side in 1625, to strengthen
the structure of the building. While the rest of the building
was strengthened, the eastern end was left to decay: part of the ruined choir
blew down in 1672; the east gable fell in 1726 and the central tower fell in
1753.
The west front of the abbey includes two towers; the northern tower
was reconstructed in the late fifteenth century and again in the sixteenth when
the spire was added. William Schaw, Master of Works on the Royal Palace (when it was converted from a
guest house), was responsible for this work on the tower. In 1602 he was buried
in the nave and a monument now stands beneath this tower.
The south tower was rebuilt in 1810 after the remains of the original
collapsed in 1807.
A decision was made to build a new church for the parish on the site of the
original. Designs were prepared in 1817 and the foundation stone laid the
following year. The new church was opened on 30th September, 1821.
