Deer Abbey facts for kids
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| Monastery information | |
|---|---|
| Order | Cistercian |
| Established | 1219 |
| Disestablished | 1587 |
| Mother house | Kinloss Abbey |
| Diocese | Diocese of Aberdeen |
| Controlled churches | Deer; Foveran; Kinedward; Peterugie |
| People | |
| Founder(s) | William Comyn, Earl of Buchan |
Deer Abbey was a special kind of monastery in Buchan, Scotland. It belonged to the Cistercian order of monks. These monks lived a simple life focused on prayer and work.
The abbey was started around the year 1219. A powerful lord named William Comyn, Earl of Buchan, helped to fund it. He was also buried there later.
Before Deer Abbey was built, there was an older group of Scottish monks or priests in the area. Old notes written in the margins of a book called the Book of Deer tell us about gifts given to this earlier religious group in the 1100s. These notes also say that Saint Columba and Saint Drostan founded the first community. It is thought that the new Deer Abbey took over from this older group.
The history of the abbey is not very clear for a long time after the 1210s. We know more about it in the 1500s. Around this time, the abbey started to become "secularized." This means it changed from being mainly a religious place to being more controlled by non-religious people. In 1587, the abbey became a secular lordship for Robert Keith II, who was known as a Commendator. He then became Lord Altrie.
Contents
Changes Over Time
The land where Deer Abbey stood was later bought by Lord Pitfour in 1766. It became part of his large Pitfour estate.
Building Walls and Discoveries
His son, who was the third laird (owner) of the estate, built a tall wall around the abbey grounds in 1809. This wall was about 5 meters (16 feet) high. He used the area inside the wall as an orchard, which is a place for growing fruit trees. He also found some graves during this time but made sure not to disturb them.
A Mausoleum and Its Fate
Later, the fifth laird had the abbey site cleared. He used stones from the old abbey buildings to construct a mausoleum. A mausoleum is a special building where people are buried. He built it to bury his daughter, Eliza, who died at 21 years old in 1851. The only other person buried there was Ferguson's mother-in-law.
In the 1930s, Deer Abbey was transferred to Roman Catholic ownership. The mausoleum was taken down, and some of its parts were used to build an entrance. However, the graves of Lady Langford and Eliza Ferguson were not disturbed during this process.
Important Burials
Several important people were buried at Deer Abbey:
Ancient History of the Area
The area around Deer Abbey has a lot of evidence of very old human activity, even before written history.
- One important site is the Catto Long Barrow, which is a type of ancient burial mound.
- There are also many tumuli, which are other kinds of ancient burial mounds, located a bit to the south.
Images for kids
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Entrance sign to the modern ruins
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Main information plaque at Deer Abbey
See also
- In Spanish: Abadía de Deer para niños
