Sweetheart Abbey

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Keepers cottage near Smithfield carlisle brampton

Sweetheart Abbey

SweetheartAbbeyDumfries

Sweetheart Abbey Abbey

Sweetheart Abbey (Gd: An Abaid Ur), 8 miles (13 km) south of Dumfries, near to the Nith in south-west Scotland, was a Cistercian monastery, founded in 1275 by Dervorguilla of Galloway, daughter of Alan, Lord of Galloway, in memory of her husband John de Balliol. His embalmed heart, in a casket of ivory and silver, was buried alongside her when she died - The monks at the Abbey then renamed the Abbey in tribute to her. Their son, also John, became king of Scotland but his reign was tragic and short. The depredations suffered by the Abbey in subsequent periods, have caused both the graves to be lost. The abbey, built in deep-red, local sandstone, was founded as a daughter house to Dundrennan Abbey; this Novum Monasterium (New Monastery), became known as the New Abbey.

The charming village which stands next to the ruins today, through time, also took the name and is now known as New Abbey. At the other end of the main street is Monksmill, a corn mill. Although the present buildings date from the late eighteenth century, there was an earlier mill built by and for the monks of the abbey which serviced the surrounding farms.

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