CULROSS ABBEY

Culross Abbey was founded by Malcolm, earl of Fife in 1217-1218 as a daughter house of the Cistercian monastery at Kinloss. The abbey church was built soon after, with work continuing into the 1300s. The abbey had a reputation for producing fine books, but monastic life came to an end with the Reformation of 1560. The choir and presbytery of the abbey church were taken over as the parish church, but most of the abbey buildings fell into ruin, so little remains. What there is is fascinating, however (including a climb up a ladder into the remains of the vaulted refectory). The church itself is cruciform and contains several items of particular interest. Probably the most impressive is the Bruce Vault, built in 1642, which houses the marble memorial to Sir George Bruce, builder of Culross Palace, and his wife. The memorial includes eight kneeling statues, representing the couple's children, in front of the memorial. There are also the effigies of a knight in armour and a lady, John Stewart of Innermeath, Lord of Lorn, and his wife, dating from 1445 but badly defaced during the Reformation.

There are rumours of ghosts.  And a legend of a tunnel beneath the abbey, where a man in a golden chair sits waiting to give valuable treasures to anyone who succeeds in finding him.