Lindores Abbey

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Lindores Abbey

Fife


Ruins of Lindores Abbey
Location
Grid reference: NO242185
Location: 56°21’10"N, 3°13’41"W
Order: Tironensian
History
Founded: 1191
Founder: David, Earl of Huntingdon
Information
Condition: Ruins

Lindores Abbey was a Tironensian abbey on the outskirts of Newburgh in Fife. Now a reduced ruin, its remains stand on the southern banks of the River Tay, about a mile north of the village of Lindores. It is a scheduled ancient monument.[1]

Abbey ruins

The abbey was founded as a daughter house of Kelso Abbey in 1191 (some sources say 1178), by David, Earl of Huntingdon, on land granted to him by his brother King William the Lion. The first abbot was Guido, Prior of Kelso, under whom the buildings were mostly completed. The church, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and St. Andrew, was 195 feet long, with transepts 110 feet long. King Edward I of England]], King John Balliol of Scotland, Kings David II and James III were among the monarchs who visited Lindores at different times.

David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay, who died during imprisonment at Falkland Palace in 1402, was buried at the Abbey.[2]

The Abbey ceased operation in 1559.

The eastern entrance

The Lindores Abbey distillery re-opened in 2017 and began distilling scotch whisky by December of that year.[3] It is owned and operated by the McKenzie Smith family.[4][5]

Reformation and after

Still discovered at Lindores Abbey

The abbey was sacked by a mob from Dundee in 1543, and again by John Knox and his supporters in 1559. According to one report, they "overthrew the altars, broke up statues, burned the books and vestments and made them cast aside their monkish habits", according to one report.[6]

After the Reformation, the Abbey passed into the hands of a Commendator, one whose loyal service to the King was rewarded by the gift of the ecclesiastical income and property. The monks remained for a time, but the Abbey began to be dismantled around 1584. In the following years the Abbey buildings were quarried as a source of building stone for Newburgh, and slate, timber and carvings from the Abbey as well as a number of architectural fragments are visible built into later structures in the town. When Patrick Leslie was Commendator, in August 1595, Anne of Denmark met the Earl of Orkney at Lindores .[7]

The main upstanding remains of the Abbey are: one of the gateways leading into the monastic enclosure; the groin-vaulted slype, leading from the cloister garth to the exterior of the Abbey; and parts of the chancel walls and western tower of the church, although the ground plan of the whole structure can still be traced. Sections of the imposing precinct wall which once enclosed the abbey can also be seen in fields to the south.

Carved wooden panels from the Abbey of the early 16th century survive in the Laing Museum, Newburgh and, reset in a 19th-century cabinet, in St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral, Dundee.

Whisky

The earliest record of scotch whisky in the exchequer roll for 1494 is a payment from King James James IV to Friar John Cor of Lindores Abbey for about "eight bols of malt" or 580 kg of aquavitae as it was then known.[8] Brother John Cor (Johanni Cor/John Kawe) was a Tironensian monk based at Lindores Abbey.[9]

The monks distilled rose water at the Abbey, and in May 1540 rosewater and apples from Lindores were sent to James V.[10]

In 2018 a distillation vat was discovered in the ruins, along with evidence of whisky production. The remains of the still are preserved for display in the ruins.[11]

Exchequer Rolls mentioning Aqua Vitae and Lindores Abbey

The Abbey is open to visitors and a whisky distillery, Lindores Abbey Distillery, in the Lowlands whisky region, is directly opposite the Abbey. It started distilling whisky in December 2017, using three stills made by Forsyths of Rothes.[12] Lindores Abbey planned to produce 150,000 litres of spirit per year.[13]

Scotch whisky must be aged a minimum of three years, in oak barrels, and the Abbey planned to age its products for five years. Hence, no whisky sales would be made until at least 2021. In the meantime, the distillery was selling its aqua vitae, since this type of alcoholic beverage does not require such long aging.[14][15]

The distillery is located on the Lindores Abbey Farm, which was bought by Drew McKenzie Smith’s grandfather in 1913. The family owns the distillery and Drew McKenzie Smith holds the title of ‘Custodian of Lindores’ since the family is guardian of the grounds of the Abbey.[16][17] The distillers have set up a Preservation Society whose mission is to preserve the Abbey for future generations.[18]

Lindores Abbey Distillery

The barley used here is grown in Fife; since mid-2019, it has been the Concerto strain grown on two farms adjoining the abbey property. By the end of 2019, the distillery planned to use "locally grown Lindores barley exclusively".[19]

Outside links

 ("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Lindores Abbey)

References

  1. ↑ Lindores Abbey - scheduled monument detail (Historic Environment Scotland)
  2. ↑ Burnett, George: 'Exchequer Rolls of Scotland: 1379-1406', vol. 3 (1880), pp. xcii, 549.
  3. ↑ ON THIS DAY 1494…FIRST MENTION OF SCOTCH DISTILLING
  4. ↑ "Monks with expertise: Lindores Abbey in Scotland is the spiritual cradle of whisky". 24 February 2018. https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/02/24/lindores-abbey/. 
  5. ↑ Lindores Abbey – A Place Where Whisky And History Meet
  6. ↑ Preservation Society
  7. ↑ Letters of John Colville (Edinburgh, 1858), p. 175.
  8. ↑ George Burnett, Exchequer Rolls of Scotland: 1488–1496, vol 10 (Edinburgh, 1887), p. 487 "Et per liberacionem factam Fratri Johanni Cor per preceptum compotorum rotulatoris, ut asserit, de mandato domini regis ad faciendum aquavite, infra hoc compotum viij bolle brasii."
  9. ↑ Michael Jackson, Scotland and Its Whiskies (John Baird: London), p. 127.
  10. ↑ Murray, Athol: 'Pursemaster's Accounts', Miscellany of the Scottish History Society X (1965), p. 50.
  11. ↑ "Archived copy". https://www.geek.com/culture/worlds-oldest-whisky-still-discovered-in-scotland-1763599/. 
  12. ↑ Lindores Abbey Distillery
  13. ↑ Whisky distillation resumes at Lindores Abbey — after 523-year break
  14. ↑ ON THIS DAY 1494…FIRST MENTION OF SCOTCH DISTILLING
  15. ↑ AQUA VITAE
  16. ↑ Lindores Abbey – A Place Where Whisky And History Meet
  17. ↑ "Family life: From farmers to distillers, Chapel of Love by the Dixie Cups, and Marmite pasta". 17 September 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/sep/17/family-life-from-farmers-to-distillers-chapel-of-love-by-the-dixie-cups-and-marmite-pasta. 
  18. ↑ "Preservation Society". https://lindoresabbeydistillery.com/preservation-society/. 
  19. ↑ WHISKY MAKING
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