Inchcolm Abbey
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Inchcolm Abbey is a
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
abbey located on the island of
Inchcolm Inchcolm (from the Scottish Gaelic "Innis Choluim", meaning Columba's Island) is an island in the Firth of Forth in Scotland. It was repeatedly attacked by English raiders during the Wars of Scottish Independence, and was fortified during both Wo ...
in the Firth of Forth in
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
. The Abbey, which is located at the centre of the island, was founded in the 12th century during the
episcopate A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
of Gregoir,
Bishop of Dunkeld The Bishop of Dunkeld is the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Dunkeld, one of the largest and more important of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics, whose first recorded bishop is an early 12th-century cleric named Cormac. However, the first ...
. Later tradition placed it even earlier, in the reign of King
Alexander I of Scotland Alexander I ( medieval Gaelic: ''Alaxandair mac Maíl Coluim''; modern Gaelic: ''Alasdair mac Mhaol Chaluim''; c. 1078 – 23 April 1124), posthumously nicknamed The Fierce, was the King of Scotland from 1107 to his death. He succeeded his broth ...
(1107–24), who had taken shelter on Incholm when his ship was forced ashore during a storm in 1123. It is said he resided there for three days with the
Hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...
of Incholm. The Abbey was first used as a
priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of ...
by Augustinian
canons regular Canons regular are priests who live in community under a rule ( and canon in greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religious life, such as clerics regular, designated by ...
, becoming a full abbey in 1235. The island was attacked by the English from 1296 onwards, and the Abbey was abandoned after the
Scottish Reformation The Scottish Reformation was the process by which Scotland broke with the Papacy and developed a predominantly Calvinist national Kirk (church), which was strongly Presbyterian in its outlook. It was part of the wider European Protestant Refor ...
in 1560. It has since been used for defensive purposes, as it is situated in a strategically important position in the middle of the Firth of Forth. A Latin inscription carved above the Abbey's entrance reads: Translated, it has been rendered thus: Inchcolm Abbey has the most complete surviving remains of any Scottish monastic house. The
cloisters A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against ...
, chapter house,
warming house The calefactory (also ''warming house'') was an important room or building in a medieval monastery in Western Europe. It was here that a communal fire was kept so that the monks could warm themselves after long hours of study in the (unheated) c ...
, and
refectory A refectory (also frater, frater house, fratery) is a dining room, especially in monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminaries. The name derives from the Lat ...
are all complete, and most of the remaining claustral buildings survive in a largely complete state. The least well-preserved part of the complex is the monastic church. The ruins are cared for by
Historic Environment Scotland Historic Environment Scotland (HES) ( gd, Àrainneachd Eachdraidheil Alba) is an executive non-departmental public body responsible for investigating, caring for and promoting Scotland's historic environment. HES was formed in 2015 from the mer ...
, which also maintains a visitor centre near the landing pier (entrance charge; ferry from South Queensferry). In July 1581 stones from the abbey were taken to Edinburgh to repair the
Tolbooth A tolbooth or town house was the main municipal building of a Scottish burgh, from medieval times until the 19th century. The tolbooth usually provided a council meeting chamber, a court house and a jail. The tolbooth was one of three esse ...
.
James David Marwick Sir James David Marwick FRSE (15 July 1826 – 24 March 1908) was a Scottish lawyer, historian and town clerk. He served as Town Clerk of Glasgow for thirty-one years, during which time the entire city was transformed. Its powers and amenities w ...
, ''Extracts from the records of the Burgh of Edinburgh: 1557-1571'' (Edinburgh, 1875), pp. 210, 212.
Among the
Abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The ...
s of Inchcolm was the 15th-century chronicler
Walter Bower Walter Bower (or Bowmaker; 24 December 1449) was a Scottish canon regular and abbot of Inchcolm Abbey in the Firth of Forth, who is noted as a chronicler of his era. He was born about 1385 at Haddington, East Lothian, in the Kingdom of Sc ...
.


Inchcolm Antiphoner

The Abbey gives its name to the 14th-century manuscript referred to as the Inchcolm Antiphoner. It contains one of the few remaining examples of Celtic Plainchant. Pages of the Antiphoner can be accessed online in facsimile from the
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
br>
The Antiphoner contains a substantial number of chants dedicated to
Saint Columba Columba or Colmcille; gd, Calum Cille; gv, Colum Keeilley; non, Kolban or at least partly reinterpreted as (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is tod ...
. While these may derive from a variety of other monastic foundations with Columban associations, such as
Oronsay Priory Oronsay Priory was a monastery of canons regular on the island of Oronsay, Inner Hebrides, Argyll, off the coast of Scotland. It was in existence by 1353 under the patronage of John of Islay, Lord of the Isles. It was dedicated to St. Columba, ...
or Iona, Inchcolm is considered the most likely source of the manuscript's compilation, if not composition.


Fictional Settings

*William Shakespeare referenced Incholm Abbey in his play '' Macbeth'', 1606. *William Clinkenbeard wrote the novel ''The Battle of Incholm Abbey'', 2012.


See also

* Abbot of Inchcolm, for a list of priors and abbots of the community *
Walter Bower Walter Bower (or Bowmaker; 24 December 1449) was a Scottish canon regular and abbot of Inchcolm Abbey in the Firth of Forth, who is noted as a chronicler of his era. He was born about 1385 at Haddington, East Lothian, in the Kingdom of Sc ...
, the most famous abbot *
Abbeys and priories in Scotland List of monastic houses in Scotland is a catalogue of the abbeys, priory, priories, friary, friaries and other monastic religious houses of Scotland. In this article alien houses are included, as are smaller establishments such as Monastic cel ...
, for a general list of Scottish monasteries


References


External links


Historic Environment Scotland's page on the abbeyCyberscotia's page on the island
- including maps, drawings, and photographs {{commons category, Inchcolm Abbey Augustinian monasteries in Scotland Category A listed buildings in Fife Listed monasteries in Scotland Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Fife Religious museums in Scotland Museums in Fife 1609 disestablishments 1147 establishments in Scotland Historic Environment Scotland properties Ruined abbeys and monasteries Ruins in Fife Former Christian monasteries in Scotland