Pluscarden Abbey

Pluscarden Abbey

Founded in 1230 as a house of Valliscaulian monks by Alexander II, Pluscarden Abbey was originally planned as a cruciform church, though it is unlikely that the nave ever existed above the surviving footings. A serious fire around 1390 was followed by substantial rebuilding in the 15th century. The buildings are constructed in squared rubble and ashlar.

The North Transept is the most visible survival of 13th century work, featuring lancet windows with large rose windows in each gable and a clerestory passage set within the thickness of the north wall. The glass is by Sadie McLellan of Glasgow. Two chapels originally opened from the north wall; their arches are now filled, and the chapels—which retain 13th century detail and stone vaulted roofs—now form transepts to the chancel.

The Crossing contains remains of massive shafted columns, now mostly encased in later masonry, possibly applied after the fire. These support a solid squat tower with blind cusped panels below the parapet. The original rood screen is gone, though traces of a small stair survive. A gallery crosses the chancel arch, bearing the arms of the eight secular families who owned the Abbey between 1560 and 1943.

The South Transept is probably 14th century in date and displays elaborate and progressive detailing to the clerestory and passage. The passage spans the three-light windows with subsidiary pointed arches flanking the shafts on the intervening wall space. Two original vaulted side chapels, more elaborate but reoriented, open from this transept. A night stair leads from the south transept, stepped, with a five-light window in the south gable head.

The Chancel retains some Romanesque detail but this old-fashioned style was superseded—possibly after the fire—by a bold arrangement of windows. The mouldings of the reveals show the vast planned size of the windows, now largely filled with later masonry and replaced with smaller intersecting traceried windows on the south wall, possibly for structural stability. The east window comprises four lancets with a large three-light traceried window above, featuring a vesica and apex opening. A finely carved sacrament house and three sedilia are present. A modern timber-panelled ceiling has been installed. Considerable remains of 15th century wall painting survive around the chancel arch, the chancel transepts, and the Lady Chapel.

The Lady Chapel to the south of the south transept has a squint opening from the chancel transept and a groin vaulted roof.

The Dunbar Sacristy is a later, possibly 16th century addition at the northeast, with a vaulted roof. The monastic range on the east side of the original cloister comprises two storeys with modern attic rooms inserted.

A second Lady Chapel lies to the south of the Chapter House, with paired doors deeply recessed and flanked by an elaborate arrangement of nook shafts and a central trumeau. The complex includes the Slype and the Calefactory.

Remains of the cloister garth and Prior's House survive to the southwest of the Abbey Church.

The monastery's history saw it united in 1454 with Urquhart Priory (also in Moray, now demolished), a Benedictine house. After 1560, monks continued to inhabit the priory in decreasing numbers until around 1590. The site was sold in 1594 to Kenneth Mackenzie of Kintail, and in 1662 passed to the Brodies of Lethen. By 1710 it was owned by Duff of Dipple, who later became Earl of Fife. The 3rd Marquis of Bute purchased the property in 1889 and his heirs gifted it to the Benedictines of Prinknash in 1943. Reroofing and restoration have followed, carried out by Ian Lindsay and W. Murray Jack, with work continuing into 1987.