Scotland Melrose Abbey

Already in the 6th century, about two miles east of today's monastery, there was an older abbey dedicated to St. Aidan. It was destroyed by Kenneth I of Scotland in 839.

King David I wanted the new abbey to be built on the same site, but the monks argued that the land was not suitable for agriculture and chose the present site instead. The abbey became the mother church of the order in Scotland. Daughter monasteries in Scotland were Newbattle Abbey, Kinloss Abbey with their own daughters Culross Abbey and Deer Abbey, Coupar Angus Abbey and Balmerino Abbey. A daughter of Melrose was also Holme Cultram Abbey in Cumbria, England.