Part 6! How many castles could there be in Scotland?! (Hint, it's over 3000!)
St Mary's Abbey, Melrose is a ruined monastery of the Cistercian order in Melrose, in the Scottish Borders. It was founded in 1136 by Cistercian monks by order of King David I of Scotland and was the chief house of that order in the country until the Reformation where Scotland broke away from the Roman Catholic Church and created the Church of Scotland. Alexander II and other Scottish kings and nobles are buried at the abbey. A lead container believed to hold the embalmed heart of Robert the Bruce was found in 1921 below the Chapter House site.
Jedburgh Abbey was a ruined Augustinian abbey which was founded in around 1118 by David I, before he was King of Scotland.
After the defeat of the Earl of Surrey in 1297 at Stirling, during the War of Scottish Independence, the abbey was pillaged and torched by the English in retaliation. Robert The Bruce continued to give money to the church during his reign in the early 14th century. In 1346, after the Scottish defeat at the Battle of Neville's Cross, the English once again attacked the church. The abbey faced more destruction in 1410, 1416 and 1464. In 1523, the town and abbey were set ablaze by the then current Earl of Surrey. The abbey faced more even more devastation in 1544 at the hands of the Earl of Hertford. 16 years later, the abbey was abandoned.
Crichton Castle was built around 1406 by John of Crichton.
Crichton was constructed as a tower house in the late 14th century, and it was expanded as power of the Crichton family grew. The Crichton's fell from grace in the later 1400's, so the castle passed to the Earls of Bothwell. After Bothwell was accused of witchcraft the castle fell into neglect. Crichton was closed for masonry repairs, we tried to find an access point through the fencing but we weren't able to unfortunately.
Cessford was built around 1450 by Andrew Ker, an ancestor of Robert Ker, 1st Earl of Roxburghe, and of the Dukes of Roxburghe. The castle was besieged in 1523 by the Earl of Surrey who remarked: "It might never have been taken had the assailed been able to go on defending". The castle was abandoned in 1650. Cessford Castle was swarmed by a herd of sheep who were very not pleased with us being there so we weren't able to explore the inside.
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