Another Day, Another Abbey

[endlessrarities]

I spent the day in Kilwinning Main Street, so naturally when I had a couple of minutes free I took a little stroll into the abbey to take some photographs. 

There's not much left of Kilwinning Abbey.  My last visit to an abbey was to Dundrennan Abbey in Dumfries and Galloway.  Tucked away in the back of beyond, Dundrennan had survived remarkably well through the centuries.

Kilwinning Abbey sits in the middle of a busy Ayrshire town.  Nicely worked building stone has been at a premium for centuries, and sadly, the abbey's fabric has suffered heavily from predation by the local community and landowners since the Reformation in 1560.  A significant amount has, for example, gone into the modern parish church, built in the late eighteenth century and worthy of a post in its own right.

The abbey still survives as an attractive ruin.  Here's some views:-

The abbey tower,shown below, is a relatively modern restoration.  The original was toppled in the modern period and restored thanks to the intervention of one of the Earls of Eglinton, whose family had long been associated with the abbey:-

The target for the archery competition - the 'papingo' - is hung from this tower.  I really must go and see this event sometime - I've always meant to!

Some more views below:-

 

Altogether, it was a very pleasant day, in a rather nice location!  And tomorrow, I'll be back in the office...

Comments

[fireflylive.livejournal.com]

Always amuses me that the walls stay up, but there's grass in the middle... What happens to the floor, does it get buried?

Lovely pictures, looked a lovely day.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

Most of the time, these monuments are completely artificial constructs. This one's been excavated, and infilled with soil and then grassed over. Hence the impromptu lawn...

[red-trillium.livejournal.com]

The scale of the ruins is impressive but the second picture really does it justice. It gives it a great sense of scale and a feeling of ruined vs restored.

When I see how large some of these large churches and castles are I think of the amount of work that must have gone into them, especially compared to large buildings today.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

It's difficult to comprehend the scale sometimes, when all you're left with is a handful of ruins. The 'Wow!' factor you get when you step inside an intact cathedral is often lacking to some extent.

It's sad, how many of these great buildings have passed away into memory.