Arbroath Abbey

The Benedictine abbey was built out of red sandstone in 1178 by William the Lion. In 1320 it played an important part in Scottish history when six years after the decisive Battle of Bannockburn, noblemen and clergy met in the tower of the gatehouse to sign a letter to Pope John XXII, the so-called Declaration of Arbroath, which resulted in Robert the Bruce becoming king. Only sections of the richly-ornamented Romanesque west portal, the south transept of the sacristy and the presbytery survive from this once vast, cruciform abbey. Some of the original vaulting remains in the sacristy where capitals imaginatively decorate the surrounding blind arcades. The "O of Arbroath", a rose window which faces out to sea above a round-arched triforium in the south transept, served as a beacon for vessels out at sea during the Middle Ages. The restored hall in the old Abbots House is now a museum where exhibits include medieval frescoes and a copy of the Declaration of Arbroath.