Sweetheart Abbey

{{Short description|Category A listed building in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}} {{Use British English|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox monastery |name= Sweetheart Abbey |native_name = An Abaid Ur |native_name_lang = Gd | other_names = New Abbey |image= Sweetheart Abbey.jpg |full = Abbey of Dulce Cor |order= [[Cistercian]] |founder= [[Dervorguilla of Galloway]]; [[Abbot]] Henry, [[Cistercians|S.O.Cist.]] |established= 1273 |dedication = [[Mary, the mother of Jesus|St Mary the Virgin]] |mother= [[Dundrennan Abbey]] |disestablished= 1624 |style = [[Early English Period|Early English]] |location = [[New Abbey]], [[Dumfries and Galloway]], Scotland, United Kingdom |diocese= [[Diocese of Galloway]] |remains = Abbey church, [[religious precinct|precinct wall]], [[chapter house]] |churches= Buittle; Crossmichael; Kirkcolm; Kirkpatrick-Durham; Lochkindeloch; Wigtown |people= }} The '''Abbey of Dulce Cor''', better known as '''Sweetheart Abbey''' ([[Scottish Gaelic language|Gaelic:]] ''An Abaid Ur''), was a [[Cistercian]] [[monastery]] founded in 1273 in what is now the village of [[New Abbey]], in the historical county of [[Kirkcudbrightshire]] in [[Dumfries and Galloway]], {{convert|8|mi|km}} south of [[Dumfries]].

==History== ===Founding=== The abbey, located on the banks of the New Abbey Pow (river), was founded by [[Dervorguilla of Galloway]], daughter of [[Alan, Lord of Galloway]], in memory of her husband, [[John, 5th Baron Balliol|John de Balliol]]. After his death, she kept his [[embalmed]] heart, contained in a casket of ivory and silver, with her for the rest of her life, and it was buried alongside her when she died. In line with this devotion to her late husband, she named the abbey ''Dulce Cor'' (Latin for Sweet Heart).<ref name=HS>{{cite web|url=http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/index/places/propertyresults/propertyabout.htm?PropID=PL_283&PropName=Sweetheart%20Abbey|work=Historic Scotland|title=Sweetheart Abbey: A graceful ruin|access-date=18 February 2016|archive-date=12 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412143439/http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/index/places/propertyresults/propertyabout.htm?PropID=PL_283&PropName=Sweetheart%20Abbey|url-status=live}}</ref> Their son, also [[John Balliol|John]], became King of Scotland, but his reign was tragic and short.

Under the first [[abbot]], Henry, the abbey was built in deep-red, local sandstone in the [[Early English Period|Early English]] style. It was founded as a daughter house to the nearby [[Dundrennan Abbey]]; thus this ''novum monasterium'' (new monastery) became known as the "New Abbey ".

Other abbots included - Henry, 1275; Eric, 1290; John, 1300; Thomas, 1400; William, 1470; Robert, 1503; John, 1539; Gilbert, 1565–1612.

===Vicissitudes=== The immediate abbey precincts extended to {{convert|30|acre|m2}} and sections of the surrounding wall can still be seen today. The abbey church, dedicated to St [[Mary, the mother of Jesus|Mary the Virgin]],<ref name=HS /> in common with all Cistercian monasteries, measures {{convert|203|ft|m}}, and the central tower rose to a height of {{convert|92|ft|m}}.<ref name=CE>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10779b.htm New Abbey] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200321152329/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10779b.htm |date=21 March 2020 }} from the [[Catholic Encyclopedia]]</ref>

The Abbot of Sweetheart was a member of the First Estate and sat ''ex officio'' in the [[Parliament of Scotland|Parliament]]. The [[Cistercian]] Order—whose members were commonly known as the White Monks because of the white [[cowl]] which they wear over their [[religious habit]]—built many great abbeys after their establishment around 1100. Like many of their abbeys, the New Abbey's interests lay not only in prayer and contemplation but in the farming and commercial activity of the area, making it the centre of local life.

During the [[First War of Scottish Independence]], King [[Edward I of England]] himself resided at the abbey in 1300, while campaigning in [[Galloway]]. After 50 years of warfare in the region, however, the abbey was left in a dilapidated state. The [[Bishop of Galloway]] bemoaned Sweetheart's "outstanding and notorious poverty". [[Archibald Douglas, 3rd Earl of Douglas]] (1328-1400), often referred to as Archibald the Grim, became a major benefactor of the abbey and financed wholesale repairs and the rebuilding of the abbey complex.<ref name=HS /> The depredations suffered by the abbey in subsequent periods, however, caused the graves of the foundress and her husband to be lost.

The abbey continued in quiet obscurity until it was eventually suppressed in the [[Scottish Reformation]].

===Suppression=== Starting in 1565, the Scottish crown placed the abbey under a series of [[commendatory abbot]]s. The last Cistercian [[abbot]] was Gilbert Broun, S.O.Cist. (died 1612), who continued to uphold the Catholic faith long after the Reformation. He was charged several times with enticing to "papistrie" from 1578 to 1605, until finally he was arrested in 1605, in spite of the resistance of the whole countryside, and transported to [[Edinburgh]], where he was tried and sentenced to exile. In 1624, the last of the monks died and the abbey buildings and land passed into the hands of Sir [[Robert Spottiswoode]], son of the [[Archbishop of St Andrews]], who assumed the title of Lord of New Abbey.<ref name=CE />

When, in 1633, King [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] established the [[Diocese of Edinburgh]], he pleaded with Spottiswoode to relinquish the lands of New Abbey, which he wanted to grant to the new diocese. Though Spottiswoode agreed, he was not paid for the lands, and when the royal grant to the diocese was cancelled, the king restored the estate back to Spottiswoode in 1641. He was soon forced into exile, however, so the estate continued in possession of the Crown.

==Burials== *[[John I de Balliol|John de Balliol]] and his wife [[Dervorguilla of Galloway]] *[[James Carruthers]] (1759–1832) was a Catholic priest and historian. *[[Eric Drummond, 7th Earl of Perth]] (1876- 1951). *Hon. Angela Mary Constable-Maxwell, daughter of the [[Marmaduke Constable-Maxwell, 11th Lord Herries of Terregles|11th Lord Herries of Terregles]], Countess of Perth, (1877Marmaduke Constable-Maxwell, 11th Lord Herries of Terregles - 1965 ) wife of the 7th Earl of Perth. *[[William Paterson (banker)]] founder of the [[Bank of England]]. (1658 - 1719)

==Current status== [[File:Sweetheart Abbey1.jpg|thumb|200px|Looking eastwards, the impressive nave of the abbey church leading (under the dramatic bell tower) to the [[chancel]], with its richly carved and traceried windows. Above the rows of pillars, the triforia can just be seen.]]

The village which stands next to the ruins today, is now known as [[New Abbey]]. At the other end of the main street is Monksmill, a corn mill. Although the present buildings date from the late 18th century, there was an earlier mill built by and for the monks of the abbey which serviced the surrounding farms.

[[File:Sweetheart Abbey entrance.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Sweetheart Abbey entrance through the much altered archway in the abbey precincts which extended to 30 acres.]] The abbey ruins dominate the skyline today and one can only imagine how it and the monks would have dominated early medieval life as farmers, agriculturalists, horse and cattle breeders. Surrounded by rich and fertile grazing and arable land, they became increasingly expert and systematic in their farming and breeding methods. Like all Cistercian abbeys, they made their mark, not only on the religious life of the district but on the ways of local farmers and influenced agriculture in the surrounding areas.

A 14th century prayer book known as The Sweetheart Abbey Breviary [https://www.nls.uk/news/press/2016/02/sweetheart-breviary] is now in the [[National Library of Scotland]] in Edinburgh.

==See also== * [[Abbot of Sweetheart]], for a list of abbots and commendators * [[List of places in Dumfries and Galloway]]

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{Historic Environment Scotland|num=SM90293|desc=Sweetheart Abbey, abbey, precinct and walls}}

[[Category:1275 establishments in Scotland]] [[Category:Cistercian monasteries in Scotland]] [[Category:History of Dumfriesshire]] [[Category:Religion in Dumfries and Galloway]] [[Category:Listed monasteries in Scotland]] [[Category:Christian monasteries established in the 1270s]] [[Category:1624 disestablishments]] [[Category:17th-century disestablishments in Scotland]] [[Category:Historic Environment Scotland properties in Dumfries and Galloway]] [[Category:Burial sites of the House of Balliol]] [[Category:Scheduled monuments in Dumfries and Galloway]] [[Category:Former Christian monasteries in Scotland]]