Description:

Balmerino Abbey was founded by Queen Ermengarde, widow of William the Lion and great granddaughter of William the Conqueror, and her son King Alexander II (1214-49). The abbey was situated on the north coast of fife, overlooking the Firth of Tay and was dedicated to the Virgin and to Ermengardes relative ‘the most holy King Edward’, the Confessor. It is likely that Ermengarde intended Balmerino to be her burial place and she was actively acquiring land for its foundation as early as 1225. In 1234 Ermengarde passed away and her body was laid to rest under the high altar of the abbey. Her grave and coffin was supposed to have been found by the tenant of the farm in the summer of 1831. It was covered by a grave slab, which was broken into pieces, while the bones found within were ‘dispersed as curiosities throughout the country’. 

In December 1547 Balmerino was attacked by the English. However, the abbey does not seem to have been significantly damaged. In 1559 some destruction was caused by the Reformers but the extent of the damage is difficult to assess. The last pre-Reformation abbot was Robert Foster who held the position from 1511/12 until his death shortly before February 1561. In September 1561 possession of the monastery was acquired by Sir John Hay, first Lay Commendator of the abbey. In 1565 Mary, Queen of Scots was a visitor at the abbey and more than likely lived in the abbot’s house as a guest of Sir John Hay. In 1603 the lands were erected into a temporal lordship by Sir James Elphinstone, first lord of Balmerino. However, the lordship seems to have been tainted with misfortune: both the first and second Lords of Balmerino were sentenced to death and the sixth and last was beheaded as a Jacobite in France in 1746.