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Dunfermline Abbey

A worshipping community since 1072
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dunfermline.abbey.church@gmail.com
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Historic Abbey

The Abbey Church is the centrepiece of Dunfermline, one of the oldest settlements in Scotland and once its proud capital.  The history of The Abbey is entwined with that of Scotland itself, as Dunfermline was the burial site of the Scottish monarchs before the adoption of the island of Iona, and you will see many reminders and relics there of great Scottish rulers of the past.

Dunfermline_Abbey_by_John_SlezerThe Abbey and the ruins around it are all that remain of a Benedictine Abbey founded by Queen Margaret in the eleventh century. The foundations of her church are under the present nave (or `Old Church`), built in the twelfth century in the Romanesque style by David ) son of Margaret and Malcolm Canmore).

King Robert the Bruce is buried here, and the tower of the church bears the words `King Robert the Bruce` in carved stone around the top and inside, beneath the pulpit, is the Bruce`s tomb, with its fine brass cover dating from 1889.

Outside the east gable of the church is the shrine of Queen Margaret, a place of pilgrimage since the medieval times, and nearby are the remains of the other monastic buildings, including the large refectory and the ruin of the Royal Palace, rebuilt from the guest house of the monastry in the sixteenth century for James VI and his Queen.

After the reformation Dunfermline ceased to be an Abbey, but since the nave of the church continued to be used as the local parish church, much of the Abbey has survived to this day. The present parish church, to the east of the Old Church, was added in the nineteenth century.

IMG_0503

Historic images from royaldunfermline.com (http://www.royaldunfermline.com/resources.html) under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

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Abbey Life

Our worship and group activities and events have now almost fully returned to normal.  In person worship on a Sunday Morning has restarted and groups are meeting again.  Please contact the church or relevant group for more specific information.

We will continue to live stream our services and they can all be viewed at our You Tube Channel.(https://www.youtube.com/c/DunfermlineAbbey)

Please keep an eye on Facebook and here on the website for any updates or future live and recorded events. Remember you can still contact the minister either by phone 01383 727311 or email MARennie@churchofscotland.org.uk

 

The Abbey Church
Worship at Dunfermline Abbey follows a traditional Church of Scotland pattern with the Word of God taking central place. The main service is at 10.30am each Sunday. All are welcome to any of our services.
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