Scheduled Monuments›Scotland›Luffness Friary

Luffness Friary

Scotland
HES SM759
Nation
Scotland
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic Environment Scotland

Overview

History & significance

Luffness Friary is a Carmelite (White Friars) foundation located near Aberlady in East Lothian, established in the fifteenth century. The friary occupied a site in the fertile lands of the Lothian plain, serving as a religious community dedicated to the contemplative rule of the Carmelite order. Substantial remains of the friary buildings survive, including parts of the claustral ranges and religious structures that characterise a medieval friary layout. The site was abandoned following the Scottish Reformation in the mid-sixteenth century, after which the buildings fell into decay, though notable architectural fragments remain visible today as evidence of its former religious and social importance in the local community.

Luffness Friary is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM759. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Luffness Friary?

Luffness Friary is a Carmelite (White Friars) foundation located near Aberlady in East Lothian, established in the fifteenth century. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM759.

Who is responsible for protecting Luffness Friary?

Luffness Friary 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 SM759.

What other scheduled monuments are near Luffness Friary?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Southfield,ring ditch 350m SW of (6.5 km), Harperdean,enclosure 300m E of (6.6 km), Spottiswoode, enclosure 145m SSW of (7.2 km).

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Luffness Friary

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Luffness Friary's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Stat Accounts
The parish Statistical Accounts of the 1790s and 1830s, describing life, work and population here.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.

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Nearby

Other scheduled monuments within 10 km

Southfield,ring ditch 350m SW of
Ring ditch6.5 km
Harperdean,enclosure 300m E of
Post-Medieval · Enclosure6.6 km
Spottiswoode, enclosure 145m SSW of
Post-Medieval · Enclosure7.2 km
Seton Collegiate Church
7.3 km
Greendykes, enclosure 310m SSE of
Post-Medieval · Enclosure7.5 km
Greendykes,enclosure 200m W of
Post-Medieval · Enclosure7.6 km
Haddington, St. Martin's Kirk
St. martin's kirk7.9 km
Barberfield, enclosure 400m ESE of
Post-Medieval · Enclosure8.5 km
The ground beneath

The bedrock under Luffness Friary

Luffness Friary stands on Strathclyde Group, bedrock that formed in the Visean. The rock here is sedimentary rock cycles, strathclyde group type.

The wider landscape

Around Luffness Friary

Battle of PrestonpansBattle (1745) · ~5.8 milesBattle of PinkieBattle (1547) · ~8.3 milesBattle of Dunbar (1296)Battle (1296) · ~12.8 milesBattle of Dunbar IBattle · ~13.1 miles
All Scheduled Monuments