Paisley Abbey

Attribution:

Scott Foy

Key Dates

A community is believed to have first been founded on the site in the 7th century AD. A priory was first situated on the spot in 1163, and it grew to abbey status by 1245. It was burnt down by Edward I of England in 1307, the rebuilt in the 14th century. Fires ravished the abbey in the 15th and 16th centuries; it was restored in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Paisley

United Kingdom

Key People

Saint Mirin is said to have founded the original community at the site. It was Walter FitzAlan, the first High Steward of Scotland, who issued a charter for the priory to be built in the 12th century. In 1316 Marjorie Bruce, daughter of Robert I of Scotland, fell from her horse near the abbey while heavily pregnant. She gave birth in the abbey by caesarean - to the future King Robert II - then died shortly afterwards. She is buried in the grounds of the abbey.

Paisley Abbey is a former Cluniac monastery, and current Church of Scotland parish kirk, situated in the City of Paisley, in Renfrewshire, Scotland. Founded in 1163, it has experienced turbulent fortunes over the centuries, being in turn destroyed by the forces of Edward I of England during the Scottish Wars of Independence, rebuilt, ravished twice by fire, then restored once again.

Saint Mirin, who is said to have founded the original 7th community on the abbey's site, gives his name to the local football team, Saint Mirren FC. Archaeological investigations of a drain in the grounds of the abbey have twice been carried out by the Glasgow University Archaeological Research Division (GUARD), in 1990 and 2009, revealing much about the magnificent building's history.

Admission Fee

Admission Free

Related Websites

Paisley Abbey

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