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Kilwinning Abbey is a ruined Benedictine monastery located in Ayrshire, Scotland, founded in the twelfth century by the Earl of Eglinton. The abbey was established as a daughter house of Tiron Abbey in France and became one of the significant ecclesiastical centres in medieval Ayrshire, housing a community of monks engaged in spiritual, educational, and agricultural pursuits. The surviving structures, notably the fourteenth-century tower or steeple, demonstrate the architectural development of the site through the medieval period. The abbey remained an important landmark until its decline following the Scottish Reformation, leaving the fragmentary ruins visible today that testify to its former prominence in the religious landscape of southwest Scotland.
Kilwinning Abbey is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM90187. View the official record →
Kilwinning Abbey is a ruined Benedictine monastery located in Ayrshire, Scotland, founded in the twelfth century by the Earl of Eglinton. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM90187.
Kilwinning Abbey is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic Environment Scotland — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Scotland. The official designation reference is SM90187.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Kilwinning,waggonway & bridge,SE of Saugh Trees (2.3 km), Kerelaw Castle (3.4 km), Ardeer Recreation Club,subterranean passage & cave (3.5 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Kilwinning Abbey's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Kilwinning Abbey stands on Scottish Coal Measures Group, bedrock that formed in the Moscovian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal, ironstone and ferricrete.