Visiting Culross Abbey and the tomb of Sir George Bruce

We were out and about again yesterday hitting the tourist sites. Our nephew has been staying with us these last few days, so we've been taking him all over.

Yesterday we went to Culross, a historic coal mining village in Fife (just over the water from Edinburgh). The village is absolutely stunning and we walked all over it, including up to the ruins of the Abbey and the church where you can find the tomb of Sir George Bruce.

George Bruce was the driving force behind the village back in the 17th century, and developed the coal mines there which stretch out under the Firth of Forth.

The coal seems were originally under the control of the Abbey there - the ruins of which you can see above, but George agreed a lease from the abbey and developed the mines.

The modern day church sits right above the Abbey as you can see in the pic above, and lends itself to quite a lovely setting.

The abbey has long been a ruin. It dates back to the early 1200s - so is now just over 800 years old. But as per many other abbeys in the UK, once the reformation kicked in in 1560 it fell into disrepair thanks to good old King Henry the 8th and his fallout with the catholic church (they werent happy with all his marriages, be-heading his ex-wives, etc - he wasnt a very nice bloke !).

The current operating church (Culross & Torryburn Parish Church) is also a lovely building and is surrounded by a lovely old graveyard.

Many of the gravestones date back into the 1700s. Like the one above. A number from the 18th century dont contain a lot of writing, but appear to show the profession of the deceased - I assume some kind of stone mason or engineer for the person above due to the compass and setsquare shown.

Thats another above from 1767 this time - but I've no idea what that symbol is representing.

The church is quite nice inside and well worth a visit. As said, its still in use, and we got there just after a marriage ceremony had finished.

The church contains the tomb of Sir George Bruce over on one side, and its quite remarkable.

The stone works and carvings are very intricate. I've never seen anything like these kneeling statues at the front of the tomb before - its quite odd when you see them. Its great to see that they capture the clothing and styles of their day - quite a nice piece of history.

I'm actually descended from the same clan (family) as George Bruce (the Bruce clan), although I am probably not related at all. I instantly recognised our clan flag when I walked into the tomb.

The church also contains one of the prettiest stain glass windows that I've ever seen.

It appears very modern in design and certainly does not confirm to the traditional style that we see in the UK. I think its absolutely stunning.

The only downside to visiting the abbey and the church is that they sit right above the village at the top of a hill - so you have to climb up a steep street to get there. The walk up tired us out, but its pretty and was worth it !

It really is a lovely place to visit, with so much history. There is quite a lot to do in the village, and we spent most of the afternoon there. It was probably our 4th or 5th visit, so clearly we like it there - very much recommended !

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