Lindores Abbey

Lindores Abbey

Lindores Abbey was founded in the late twelfth century by David, Earl of Huntingdon. The earl had recently fought in the Third Crusade and established the abbey to give thanks to God for his safe return to Scotland. Lindores was a Tironesian monastery. The Tironesians were at that time a relatively new religious order, and were part of a movement for a stricter style of monastic life. Lindores Abbey would go on to play a major role in shaping the medieval development of the south side of the River Tay. In the 1260s the abbot and monks of Lindores were instrumental in founding the new urban settlement of Newburgh. They also introduced new farming practices on their estates, including establishing reknowned orchards. In the early 1500s fruit trees from Lindores Abbey were sent to Stirling Castle to develop the royal orchards. The monks of Lindores also undertook distilling. In the 1490s a brother at the abbey named Jon Cor received a delivery of malt for producing ‘aquavitae’ for King James IV. This is thought to be the earliest reference to whisky production in Scotland. The monastery appears to have thrived up until the period of the Scottish Reformation, when it was sacked in June 1559 by Protestant activists led by John Knox. Many of the religious furnishings of the abbey were burned in front of the monks and they were forced to reject Catholicism. Lindores Abbey ceased to serve a religious purpose after this date. The southern area of the monastery is now occupied by Lindores Distillery, while the ruins of the church and cloister can be visited by the public as part of tours of the distillery.

sacredlandscapesoffife

1190

Bess Rhodes

Site

246

24/11/2022

09/26/2023 01:00:10 pm

Marilyn Brown, Scotland’s Lost Gardens (2012). George Burnett, ed., The Exchequer Rolls of Scotland (1887), vol. 10, p. 487. John Dowden, ed., Chartulary of the Abbey of Lindores (1903). Website of Lindores Abbey Distillery: https://lindoresabbeydistillery.com/ [Accessed 18 November 2021].

cm x cm x cm

current,56.352225276481626,-3.2259986225425434;

Lindores Abbey

TEXT

Building

519

1560

Catholic

Newburgh