Dunfermline Abbey in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2025

Dunfermline Abbey parish church; Credit – By Bardrock – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8271517

The current Dunfermline Abbey is a Church of Scotland parish church in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. The church occupies the site of the choir of the medieval Benedictine abbey church.

A view of Dunfermline Abbey from the churchyard; Credit – By Robert Cutts from Bristol, England, UK – Dunfermline Abbey, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50587059

Reigning from 1058 to 1093, Malcolm III, King of Scots (the Malcolm in the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare) established his capital in Dunfermline in Fife, Scotland. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland from the 11th century to the 15th century. Malcolm III built a royal residence in Dunfermline while his wife Saint Margaret of Scotland, born an Anglo-Saxon princess, founded a priory and introduced a small community of Benedictine monks from Canterbury there.

A depiction of Saint Margaret’s original tomb at Dunfermline Abbey; Credit – www.findagrave.com

On November 13, 1093, King Malcolm III and his eldest son Edward were killed at the Battle of Alnwick. They were both buried at Tynemouth Priory in Tynemouth, Scotland. Malcolm’s wife Saint Margaret of Scotland died at Dunfermline just three days after the deaths of her husband and son and was buried in Dunfermline priory church.

David I, King of Scots (reigned 1124 – 1153), the third son of Malcolm III and Saint Margaret to become King of Scots, made the Dunfermline Priory an abbey in 1128. He had a new Romanesque church built on a grand scale, of which the magnificent nave survives.

The nave of Dunfermline Abbey from the reign of David I, King of Scots; Credit – By Kim Traynor – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17460474

Margaret was canonized as a saint in 1250 by Pope Innocent IV. On June 19, 1250, following her canonization, Margaret’s remains were disinterred and placed in a reliquary at the high altar of Dunfermline Abbey. Her husband Malcolm III, originally interred at Tynemouth Priory in Tynemouth, Scotland, was reburied next to Margaret. Their son Edward, who had died in battle with his father, was also moved to Dunfermline Abbey.

The Wars of Scottish Independence was a series of military campaigns fought between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in (1296 – 1328) and (1332 – 1357). During these wars, in the winter of 1303, King Edward I of England held court at Dunfermline Abbey. When he left, he burned most of the buildings. Due to Robert I, King of Scots (reigned 1306 – 1329), known as Robert the Bruce, the Wars of Scottish Independence resulted in Scotland retaining its status as an independent state. Robert the Bruce financed the rebuilding of Dunfermline Abbey. It was a move that showed Robert the Bruce’s confidence in the Kingdom of Scotland following the Wars of Scottish Independence with England. When he died in 1329, Robert the Bruce was buried before the high altar of Dunfermline Abbey.

During the Scottish Reformation in 1560, Dunfermline Abbey was sacked and fell into disrepair. To protect the remains of Saint Margaret of Scotland and her husband King Malcolm III from being desecrated, George Durie, Abbot of Dunfermline had the remains taken to his rural estate at Craigluscar. In 1566, Mary, Queen of Scots had Saint Margaret’s head sent to Edinburgh Castle as a relic to assist her in childbirth. In 1597, Margaret’s head ended up with the Jesuits at Scots College in Douai, France, but it was lost during the French Revolution.

By 1580, King Felipe II of Spain had the other remains of Saint Margaret and her husband Malcolm transferred to a chapel at the Royal Seat of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. However, the location of the remains is now unknown.

The Victorian brass plate covering the tomb of Robert Bruce and Elizabeth de Burgh; Credit – By Otter – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5117548

After the Protestant Reformation, the nave of Dunfermline Abbey was converted into a Church of Scotland parish church for the people of Dunfermline, and the old choir was allowed to collapse. A new parish church was built on the site of the choir between 1818 and 1821. During construction work in 1819, Robert the Bruce’s coffin was discovered and the coffin of his second wife Elizabeth de Burgh was rediscovered in 1917. Both coffins were re-interred in the new church.

Royal Burials at Dunfermline Abbey

Saint Margaret of Scotland, stained glass window at St. Margaret’s Chapel at Edinburgh Castle; Credit – Wikipedia

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Works Cited

  • Dunfermline Abbey. (n.d.). Dunfermline Abbey. https://www.dunfermlineabbey.co.uk/wwp/
  • Dunfermline Abbey. (2023). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunfermline_Abbey
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2013). Saint Margaret of Scotland, Queen of Scotland. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/november-16-1093-death-of-saint-margaret-of-scotland-wife-of-king-malcolm-iii-of-scotland/
  • History of Dunfermline Abbey. (n.d.). Www.historicenvironment.scot. https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/dunfermline-abbey-and-palace/history/