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Founded by King David I in 1136, and rebuilt after almost complete destruction by the English 200 years later, Melrose Abbey displays the lightness and elegance of 14th-15th century European Gothic at its finest.
It is also exceptional for a Scottish great church in having been vaulted throughout.
After Henry VIII had the abbey torched once again in 1544, it seems Melrose never recovered. The surviving Cistercian monks later embraced the Reformation in an effort to ensure their personal security, but they did so within a badly damaged and rapidly deteriorating building.
Due to the dramatic changes in worship at the Reformation, modification to the Abbey continued through the 17th century as a result of part of it being used as the town's parish church for the then dominant Protestant form of worship.
Robert The Bruce's embalmed heart, encased in lead, was buried at Melrose Abbey, after having been taken on an unsuccessful crusade to the Holyland.
Sir James Douglas, confronted by a huge army Moors whilst travelling through Spain with his crusaders, charged into battle, throwing the Bruce’s heart in a lead casket before him and shouting: 'Lead on brave heart, I'll follow thee.' The heart was disovered the next day amongst the slain bodies by another Scottish Knight, who brought it back to Melrose Abbey.
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