Abbey of Culross

Abbey of Culross

The Abbey of Culross was founded in 1217 by Maol Choluim I, Earl of Fife (1204–1228), who was himself buried in the church in 1228x1229. Dedicated to St Mary and St Serf, it housed monks of the Cistercian order, a reformed order founded in the late twelfth century at the Burgundian Abbey of Citeaux, from which they take their name. It also housed the relics of St Serf which were visited by pilgrims, including James IV in the early sixteenth century. Most of the current building dates from the 1200s, apart from the large central tower, constructed in the fifteenth century. Shortly after the Reformation, the presbytery, transepts choir and tower of the Abbey were converted into the parish church of Culross, and are still in use today a Culross Abbey Parish Church.

sacredlandscapesoffife

tt27@st-andrews.ac.uk

Site

189

16/09/2021

1) Richard Fawcett, The Architecture of the Scottish medieval church, 1100-1560 (New York: Yale University Press, 2011), pp. 383-385. 2) Richard Fawcett, ‘Medieval Churches, Abbeys and Cathedrals’, in Donald Omand, eds, The Fife book (Birlinn, Edinburgh, 2000), pp. 125-144

cm x cm x cm

current,56.05834677867538,-3.6252915858131023;

Abbey of Culross

TEXT

Building

398

1

Catholic