Investigating - Dunfermline Abbey - Historic Scotland

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DUNFERMLINE ABBEY 6 Did you know... Queen Margaret was English but she grew up in Hungary at the royal court there. She came to <strong>Scotland</strong> with her family for safety. To begin with she lived in a very basic tower with King Malcolm – it must have been a shock for her. Flying Buttresses Entrance to <strong>Abbey</strong> church Location 1: Outside the Church Background information for teachers. This can be read to pupils. • The church we can see now is a mixture of several different churches. Look carefully at the building. Teacher prompts Can you see where two different churches meet? Which part do you think is older? Why? What differences can you see in the old and new parts of the church? What do you think the stone arches against the walls are for? They are called flying buttresses. Desired pupil responses Very obvious where the two different phases of building join. Part on the west (left) is much older. Clues for age might be that the stone is more weathered; bits missing round windows; stone rougher. Style of windows is different; new windows are also bigger. Old part has stone arches supporting the walls. Colour of the stone. To support walls and stop them collapsing. They were added later. • The oldest part of the church we can now see was built in about the year 1150 AD by King David I. The tower to the left and the colourful windows were added a bit later. It was part of an abbey set up by his mother, Queen Margaret. An abbey is where a group of monks or nuns live. They spend their time praying and worshipping god. Usually they don’t ever leave the abbey. They live very simple lives and don’t own anything. • The newer part of the church is on the right. It is still quite old – it was built nearly 200 years ago in 1818. It was built on top of the ruins of part of David’s church. • There were lots of different doors into the church. Later on perhaps you can walk round the outside and count how many there are. One of the doors was for ordinary people coming to the abbey church, another was for the monks, and another was a grand door for special visitors on important days. Go to the door more or less in the middle of the church on the south side, just to the left of where the old and new churches join. HISTORIC SCOTLAND education
DUNFERMLINE ABBEY 7 Did you know... David I gave all kinds of gifts to the abbey – including the rights to a tenth of wild horses caught in Fife and any seals caught off the Fife coast! The monks also had the rights to coal mining. • This doorway was the one that the monks used. Their dormitory used to be very close to the church, so it was handy when they came to the church services in the middle of the night. It is about 900 years old. Teacher prompts What different patterns can you see around the doorway? Look up above. The carving higher up the church is much more worn. Why do you think the carving round the door is still quite clear? Desired pupil responses Zig zags, flowers, spirals. It used to be sheltered from wind and rain by a porch. The patterns around the doorway used to be painted in bright colours. Go in through this door to stand in the nave of the old church. Carvings on door Monks’ entrance HISTORIC SCOTLAND education
Page 1 and 2: The abbey and royal palace at Dunfe
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Investigating - Dunfermline Abbey - Historic Scotland

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