It was founded on the old royal manor of Coupar in 1161 to 1162 with the patronage of Máel Coluim IV ("Malcolm IV"), King of Scots, by Cistercian monks from Melrose Abbey. However, it may not have been fully established until 1164.[1] The buildings must have been largely completed by 1233, when the church was dedicated.[1] It became an abbey of medium to large size and wealth and enjoyed more than four centuries of monastic life. In the 14th century it suffered in the wars with England, one of its granges reportedly being burnt by Edward I in 1305.[1] In 1351 the buildings were described in a papal bull as "exceedingly impoverished."[1] Its fortunes revived later in the middle ages, with at least 24 monks at the Reformation and an income of £5590. This made it the wealthiest Cistercian house in Scotland.[1] In 1559 the abbey was entrusted by Abbot Donald Campbell to his friend Katherine Campbell, Countess of Crawford.[2] Under Donald Campbell religious life appears to have been maintained at high standards, though he joined the Reformation in 1559.[1]
The abbey was turned into a secular lordship for James Elphinstone, by parliament in 1606 and by royal charter in 1607. The abbey church appears to have survived for a time as the parish church. However, from the death of Lord Coupar in 1669 it is likely that the buildings were dismantled for stone. Today, there are almost no remains of the abbey, much of it being burned by the Protestant reformers. A collection of its charters has survived. There is a heavily ruined gatehouse, and some fine fragmentary stonework from the Abbey (notably a number of tombs) is preserved in the present parish church, which stands on or near the site of the medieval building. Other fragments are built into walls throughout the modern town.
The original layout of the abbey remains conjectural; a drawing of 1820 held in the National Library of Scotland allegedly showing the plan has been found to be incorrect.[1]
In the 19th century some women allegedly found the Ley tunnel of Coupar Angus Abbey near the entrance to the churchyard. One went in and was never seen again, however in 1982 a local mason found the entrance again and went in some distance before finding a cave-in. It is said (without evidence) that the tunnel ran a further two and a half miles to a souterrain at Pitcur.[3]
Both the Abbey gatehouse and the Abbey precincts are separately designated as scheduled monuments.[4][5]
Cowan, Ian B. & Easson, David E., Medieval Religious Houses: Scotland With an Appendix on the Houses in the Isle of Man, Second Edition, (London, 1976), pp.73–4
Easson, D.E., Charters of the Abbey of Coupar Angus, 2 vols., Publications of the Scottish History Society. 3rd series; v. 40-41, (Edinburgh, 1947)
Watt, D.E.R. & Shead, N.F. (eds.), The Heads of Religious Houses in Scotland from the 12th to the 16th Centuries, The Scottish Records Society, New Series, Volume 24, (Edinburgh, 2001), pp.43–7
* Now in England, but at the time of its foundation, part of the Scottish kingdom of David I. ** Filiation from Mellifont Abbey in Ireland, founded 1142. *** If this existed, it was shortly afterwards replaced by a Premonstratensian establishment. **** In the line of filiation from Melrose (above).
Dunfermline Abbey is a Church of Scotland parish church in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. The church occupies the site of the ancient chancel and transepts of a large medieval Benedictine abbey, which was confiscated and sacked in 1560 during the Scottish Reformation and permitted to fall into disrepair. Part of the old abbey church continued in use at that time and some parts of the abbey infrastructure still remain.
Culross Abbey is a former Cistercian abbey in Culross, Scotland, headed by the Abbot or Commendator of Culross. Part of it is still used as the local parish church by the Church of Scotland.
Scone Abbey was a house of Augustinian canons located in Scone, Perthshire (Gowrie), Scotland. Dates given for the establishment of Scone Priory have ranged from 1114 A.D. to 1122 A.D. However, historians have long believed that Scone was before that time, the centre of the early medieval Christian cult of the Culdees. Very little is known about the Culdees but it is thought that they may have been worshiping at Scone from as early as 700 A.D. Archaeological surveys taken in 2007 suggest that Scone was a site of real significance even prior to 841 A.D., when Kenneth MacAlpin brought the Stone of Destiny, Scotland's most prized relic and coronation stone, to Scone.
The Abbot and then Commendator of Melrose was the head of the monastic community of Melrose Abbey, in Melrose in the Borders region of Scotland. The abbots of the earlier Northumbrian foundation from Lindisfarne are not included here. The second abbey was founded in 1136 on the patronage of David I, King of Scots, by Cistercian monks from Rievaulx Abbey, Yorkshire. Control of the abbey was secularized in the 16th century and after the accession of James Stewart, the abbey was held by commendators. The last commendator, James Douglas of Lochleven, resigned the abbacy to William Douglas, 6th Earl of Morton in December 1606, and the abbey itself to the king in 1608. The abbey was then erected into a secular lordship for viscount Haddington, John Ramsay, who in 1609 was created "Lord Melrose". Lochleven however resumed the title of commendator in 1613 until his death in 1620.
Kingswood Abbey was a Cistercian abbey, located in the village of Kingswood near Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, England. The abbey was demolished during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and all that remains is the gatehouse, a Grade 1 listed building. Through the gatehouse arch are a few houses and the small village primary school of Kingswood.
Newbattle Abbey was a Cistercian monastery near the village of Newbattle in Midlothian, Scotland, which subsequently become a stately home and then an educational institution.
The Abbot of Coupar Angus was the head of the monastic community and lands of Coupar Angus Abbey, on the boundary between Angus and Gowrie in Scotland. The abbot David Bane was granted the mitre in 1464. The following are a list of abbots and commendators.
The Abbot of Balmerino was the head of the Cistercian monastic community and lands of Balmerino Abbey, Fife, founded in 1227 x 1229 by monks from Melrose Abbey with the patronage of Ermengarde de Beaumont and King Alexander II of Scotland. The following are a list of abbots and commendators.
Balmerino Abbey, or St Edward's Abbey, in Balmerino, Fife, Scotland, was a Cistercian monastery which has been ruinous since the 16th century.
Kilwinning Abbey is a ruined abbey located in the centre of the town of Kilwinning, North Ayrshire.
The Abbot of Kinloss was the head of the property and Cistercian monastic community of Kinloss Abbey, Moray, founded by King David I of Scotland around 1151 by monks from Melrose Abbey. The abbey was transformed into a temporal lordship for Edward Bruce, the last commendator, who became Lord Kinloss. The following is a list of abbots and commendators:
The Abbot of Glenluce was the head of the monastic community of Glenluce Abbey, Galloway. The monastery was founded in 1192 by monks from Dundrennan Abbey with the patronage of Lochlann (Roland), Lord of Galloway. In the 16th century the monastery increasingly came under the control of secular warlords. In 1560 the monastery was occupied by James Gordon of Lochinvar, and the monks were expelled. However, soon after, Thomas Hay, a follower of the earl of Cassillis, was installed in the monastery as commendator and the monks were allowed to return. However, monastic life seems to have disappeared by the end of the century. In 1602 parliament granted the lands of the monastery to Lawrence Gordon as a secular lordship. The abbey was finally given to the bishop of Galloway in 1619. The following is a list of abbots and abbot-commendators:
The Abbot of Deer, was the head of the Cistercian monastic community of Deer Abbey in Buchan. It was founded in 1219 by William Comyn, jure uxoris Earl of Buchan. There was an earlier community of Scottish monks or priests which was probably absorbed by the new foundation. It was turned into a secular lordship for Commendator Robert Keith II in 1587. The following is a list of known abbots and commendators:
Thomas Livingston was a fifteenth-century Scottish cleric, diplomat, and delegate at the Council of Basel and advisor to Kings James I and James II of Scotland. He was additionally Abbot-elect of Newbattle, Abbot of Dundrennan, nominal Bishop of Dunkeld, and also held the Abbey of Coupar Angus in commendam.
The Prior of Ardchattan was the head of the Valliscaulian, and then Cistercian, monastic community of Ardchattan Priory, Argyll. It was founded in 1230 by Duncan MacDougal, Lord of Argyll. In April 1510 it was incorporated as a cell of Beauly Priory. It was annexed to the bishopric of the Isles in 1615. The following are a list of abbots and commendators:
William of Binning or William of Binin was a 13th-century Cistercian monk. His name indicates that he came from Binning, in Uphall parish, West Lothian, Scotland; otherwise, his background is obscure. He emerges on 29 November 1243 when he is styled "Prior of Newbattle" and elected to be Abbot of Coupar Angus. According to Alexander Myln's 16th century Vitae Dunkeldensis ecclesiae episcoporum, when William was at Newbattle Abbey he authored a vita of John the Scot, successively Bishop of Dunkeld and Bishop of St Andrews. The vita has failed to survive. William resigned his position as Abbot of Coupar Angus on 29 September 1258. He died at an unknown date afterwards.
Donald Campbell was a 16th-century Scottish noble and churchman. He was the son of Archibald Campbell, 2nd Earl of Argyll and Elizabeth Stewart, daughter of John Stewart, 1st Earl of Lennox. From 1522, he was a student of St Salvator's College, at the University of St Andrews. After graduation, he became a cleric in his home diocese, the diocese of Argyll.
Perth Charterhouse or Perth Priory, known in Latin as Domus Vallis Virtutis, was a monastic house of Carthusian monks based at Perth, Scotland. It was the only Carthusian house ever to be established in the Kingdom of Scotland, and one of the last non-mendicant houses to be founded in the kingdom. The traditional founding date of the house is 1429. Formal suppression of the house came in 1569, though this was not actualised until 1602.
St. Mary's Priory, North Berwick, was a monastery of nuns in medieval East Lothian, Scotland. Founded by Donnchad I, Earl of Fife around 1150, the priory lasted for more than four centuries, declining and disappearing after the Scottish Reformation. It had been endowed by the Earls of Carrick as well as the Earls of Fife, but over time lost its dependence on these and came to be controlled by the more locally based Home family, who eventually acquired the priory's lands as a free barony.
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