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Sweetheart Abbey
(Dulce Cor).
Founded by Lady Devorgilla in 1273.
Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.
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Illustration: PINTEREST
Looking Eastwards, the impressive Nave of Sweetheart Abbey Church,
leading (under the dramatic Bell Tower) to the Chancel,
with its richly-carved and Traceried Windows.
Above the rows of Pillars, the Triforia can just be seen.
Date: 2 September 2006 (original upload date).
Source: Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons
by Kurpfalzbilder.de,
using CommonsHelper.
Photo taken by Ron Waller, August 2006.
Author: ISeneca at English Wikipedia.
(Wikimedia Commons)
"Cor Dulce Cor."
Available on YouTube at
The Abbey, located on the banks of The River Pow, was founded by Dervorguilla of Galloway, daughter of Alan, Lord of Galloway, in memory of her husband, Baron John de Balliol. After his death, she kept his embalmed heart, contained in a Casket of Ivory and Silver, with her for the rest of her life, and it was buried alongside her when she died. In line with this devotion to her Late-Husband, she named the Abbey "Dulce Cor" (Latin for "Sweet Heart"). Their son, also John, became King of Scotland, but his reign was tragic and short.
Sweetheart Abbey, Scotland.
Available on YouTube at
Under the first Abbot, Henry, the Abbey was built in deep-red, local sandstone in The Early-English Style. It was Founded as a Daughter House to the nearby Dundrennan Abbey; thus, this novum monasterium (new Monastery) became known as the "New Abbey Pow".
The immediate Abbey precincts extended to thirty acres (120,000 m2) and sections of the surrounding wall can still be seen. The Abbey Church, Dedicated to Saint Mary The Virgin,, measures 203 feet (sixty-two m), and the Central Tower rose to a height of ninety-two feet (twenty-eight m).
The entrance to Sweetheart Abbey,
through the much-altered Archway in the Abbey precincts, which extended to thirty acres.
Date: 5 September 2006 (original upload date). Photo taken by Ron Waller August 2006.
Source: Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons.
Author: ISeneca at English Wikipedia.
(Wikimedia Commons)
The Abbot of Sweetheart was a member of The First Estate and sat ex officio in The Parliament. The Cistercian Order — whose members were commonly known as The White Monks because of the White Cowl which they wore over their Religious Habit — built many great Abbeys after their establishment around 1100. Like many of their Abbeys, the New Abbey's interests lay not only in Prayer and Contemplation, but in the farming and commercial activity of the area, making it the centre of local life.
During The First War of Scottish Independence, King Edward I of England resided at the Abbey in 1300, while campaigning in Galloway. After fifty years of warfare in the region, however, the Abbey was left in a dilapidated state. The Bishop of Galloway bemoaned Sweetheart’s "outstanding and notorious poverty". Archibald Douglas, 3rd Earl of Douglas (1328-1400), often referred to as Archibald the Grim, became a major benefactor of the Abbey and financed wholesale repairs and the rebuilding of the Abbey complex. The depredations suffered by the Abbey in subsequent periods, however, caused the graves of the Foundress and her husband to be lost. The Abbey continued in quiet obscurity until it was eventually suppressed in The Scottish Reformation.
Sweetheart Abbey, Scotland.
Illustration: HISTORY FISH.NET
Starting in 1565, the Scottish Crown placed the Aabbey under a series of Commendatory Abbots. The last Cistercian Abbot was Gilbert Broun, S.O.Cist. (+ 1612), who continued to uphold The Catholic Faith long after The Reformation. He was charged several times with enticing to "papistrie", from 1578 to 1605, until finally he was arrested in 1605, in spite of the resistance of the whole countryside, and transported to Edinburgh, where he was tried and sentenced to exile. In 1624, the last of the Monks died and the Abbey buildings and land passed into the hands of Sir Robert Spottiswoode, son of The Archbishop of Saint Andrews, who assumed the Title of Lord of New Abbey.
When, in 1633, King Charles I established The Diocese of Edinburgh, he pleaded with Spottiswoode to relinquish the lands of New Abbey, which he wanted to grant to the new Diocese. Though Spottiswoode agreed, he was not paid for the lands, and when the Royal Grant to the Diocese was cancelled, the King restored the Estate back to Spottiswoode in 1641. He was soon forced into exile, however, so the Estate continued in possession of The Crown.
Sweetheart Abbey, Scotland.
Illustration: BRITAIN EXPRESS
The village, which stands next to the Ruins, today, 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-18th-Century, there was an earlier Mill built by, and for, the Monks of the Abbey which serviced the surrounding farms.
The Abbey Ruins dominate the skyline, today, and one can only imagine how it, and the Monks, would have dominated Early-Mediaeval Life, as farmers, agriculturalists, horse and cattle breeders. Surrounded by rich and fertile grazing and arable land, they became increasingly expert and systematic in their farming and breeding methods. Like all Cistercian Abbeys, they made their mark, not only on the Religious Life of the district, but on the ways of local farmers, and influenced agriculture in the surrounding areas.
Sweetheart Abbey (Dulce Cor Abbey),
Dumfries, Scotland.
Photo: 23 September 2004.
Source: From geograph.org.uk
Author: Paul Jenkins
(Wikimedia Commons)
My father's ancestry is from Galloway. What a magnificent church building. Are there tours through the church and grounds around it? Is there a list of names of parishioners and those buried in the cemetery?
ReplyDeleteMarilynn (nee McDowell)
Dear Marilynn. Thank You for your welcome Comment. Tour Information and General Information on Sweetheart Abbey can be found at https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/sweetheart-abbey/
ReplyDeleteI am delighted that you found this Article of interest.