Holyrood Abbey, Edinburgh
Visited September 2016
The ruins of Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh are attached to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, official residence of the Queen in Scotland. It is maintained by Historic Scotland, but you have to pay the palace entry fee to visit it. Included, you do get a self-led audio tour of the palace and gardens, but it’s not cheap.
The Abbey dates to the 12th century, and has been a ruin since falling out of use in the 1680s, having been ransacked by quarrelling royals. There’s some amazing gothic architecture at the nave, and the remains of a Romanesque door. It’s not very large, and parts are now built into the palace itself, so don’t go expecting something spectacular like Whitby!
Scattered across the walls and floor of the Abbey are memorials and graves from when this was an Abbey and then a parish church. Some even date to after the Abbey fell into ruin. Those interred here include royalty, in a vault to the south. Sadly no skulls or other memento mori on them that I could see...
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