Discover 6 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Melrose (United Kingdom). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Melrose Abbey, Dryburgh Abbey, and Abbotsford House. Also, be sure to include Leaderfoot Viaduct in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Melrose (Scotland).
Table of Contents
Melrose Abbey
14th-century monastic ruins with museum. St Mary's Abbey, Melrose is a partly ruined monastery of the Cistercian order in Melrose, Roxburghshire, in the Scottish Borders. It was founded in 1136 by Cistercian monks at the request of King David I of Scotland and was the chief house of that order in the country until the Reformation. It was headed by the abbot or commendator of Melrose. Today the abbey is maintained by Historic Environment Scotland as a scheduled monument.
The east end of the abbey was completed in 1146. Other buildings in the complex were added over the next 50 years. The abbey was built in the Gothic manner and in the form of a St. John's Cross. A considerable portion of the abbey is now in ruins. A structure dating from 1590 is maintained as a museum open to the public.
Alexander II and other Scottish kings and nobles are buried at the abbey. A lead container believed to hold the embalmed heart of Robert the Bruce was found in 1921 below the Chapter House site; it was found again in a 1998 excavation. This was documented in records of his death. The rest of his body is buried in Dunfermline Abbey.
The abbey is known for its many carved decorative details, including likenesses of saints, dragons, gargoyles and plants. On one of the abbey's stairways is an inscription by John Morow, a master mason, which says, Be halde to ye hende ("Keep in mind, the end, your salvation"). This has become the motto of the town of Melrose.[1]
Address: Abbey House Abbey Street, TD6 9LG Melrose
Dryburgh Abbey
Medieval ruins with informational boards. Dryburgh Abbey, near Dryburgh on the banks of the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders, was nominally founded on 10 November 1150 in an agreement between Hugh de Morville, Constable of Scotland, and the Premonstratensian canons regular from Alnwick Abbey in Northumberland. The arrival of the canons along with their first abbot, Roger, took place on 13 December 1152.
It was burned by English troops in 1322, after which it was restored only to be again burned by Richard II in 1385, but it flourished in the fifteenth century. It was finally destroyed in 1544, briefly to survive until the Scottish Reformation, when it was given to the Earl of Mar by James VI of Scotland. It is now a designated scheduled monument and the surrounding landscape is included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.
David Steuart Erskine, 11th Earl of Buchan Earl of Buchan bought the land in 1786. Sir Walter Scott and Douglas Haig are buried in its grounds. Their respective tomb and headstone, along with other memorials, are collectively designated a Category A listed building.[2]
Abbotsford House
Scott's 19th-century baronial home. Abbotsford is a historic country house in the Scottish Borders, near Galashiels, on the south bank of the River Tweed. Now open to the public, it was built as the residence of historical novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott between 1817 and 1825. It is a Category A Listed Building and the estate is listed in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.[3]
Address: Melrose, Galashiels
Leaderfoot Viaduct
Viaduct in Scotland. The Leaderfoot Viaduct, also known as the Drygrange Viaduct, is a railway viaduct over the River Tweed near Melrose in the Scottish Borders.[4]
Harmony Garden
Garden in Melrose, Scotland. The Harmony Garden is the garden of Harmony Hall which is in the town of Melrose, in the Scottish Borders, administered by the National Trust for Scotland.[5]
Priorwood Garden
Garden in Melrose, Scotland. Priorwood Garden is a garden in Melrose in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. The garden contains an apple orchard of unusual apple trees. The flower garden is planted to supply the best samples for dry flower arrangements. It is administered by the National Trust for Scotland.
The National Trust for Scotland has further properties in the Scottish Borders including the nearby Harmony Garden.[6]
Address: Priorwood Gardens Abbey Street, TD6 9PX Melrose