The remains of this beautiful edifice are situated in a quiet
sequestered vale near the base of the hill of Criffel, about seven miles
south from Dumfries. The abbey stood on level ground near the Pow Burn,
a stream which flows into the estuary of the Nith.
The ruins, though much dilapidated, are extensive, and belong to a fine
period of Scottish Gothic, of which comparatively few examples survive.
The conventual buildings have been almost entirely demolished and
carried off as building materials, only a small portion of the chapter
house and some foundations of walls still remaining. The church,
however, is complete in all its divisions, although the roof is gone and
the walls are much damaged. It comprises (Fig. 756) a choir without
aisles, a nave with two side aisles, north and south transepts (with
eastern chapels opening off them), and a square tower over the crossing.
A level field, extending to about twenty acres, called the Precinct,
surrounds the abbey, and is still partly enclosed with a strong wall
built with large blocks of granite.
The monastery derives its name of New Abbey from having been founded a
considerable time after Dundrennan Abbey,[128] in the same county, which
was regarded as the Old Abbey.
[Illustration: FIG. 756.--New Abbey, or Sweetheart Abbey. Plan.]
Sweetheart Abbey was inhabited by Cistercian monks, and dedicated to the
Virgin. The founder was Devorgilla, daughter of Allan, Lord of Galloway,
and mother of King John Baliol. Her husband was John Baliol of Castle
Barnard, in Yorkshire. When he died, in 1269, his wife had his heart
embalmed and placed in an ivory coffin, which she carried about with
her, and, finally, at her death in 1289, at the age of 76, it was
buried with her in a grave in front of the high altar of the
abbey--hence the touching name of Sweetheart Abbey. The institution was
richly endowed by Devorgilla, who had abundant means. She was the
foundress of Balliol College, Oxford; and by her the old bridge over the
Nith at Dumfries was erected, portions of which still survive.
The date of the foundation of the abbey is 1275. The names of many of
the abbots are preserved, but they do not seem to have been specially
distinguished, except the last, Gilbert Brown, who maintained the
doctrines of Romanism in a written controversy with the well-known
reformer, John Welsh, of Ayr. The abbot was afterwards exiled, and died
at Paris in 1612.
In the sixteenth century the monks found it necessary to place
themselves under the protection of a powerful layman. They therefore
adopted the plan then common, and, in 1544-48, feued the Barony of
Lochpatrick and other property to Lord Maxwell, and made him heritable
bailie of the whole of their lands.
The property became vested in the Crown by the Annexation Act of 1587,
and, in 1624, it was granted to Sir R. Spottiswood. Since that time it
has passed through the hands of several proprietors. At the Reformation
the records of the monastery were lost, having been either destroyed or
carried abroad by the monks.[129]
During last century the buildings suffered great dilapidation, but
towards the close of the century, by the exertions of the parish
minister and some of the gentry of the neighbourhood, the structure was
saved from further demolition, and put in a proper state of repair.[130]
Since that time it has been still further repaired, and is now in good
preservation.
Few of our ancient churches are so complete as regards all the divisions
of the plan. The nave retains its central compartment, 118 feet in
length by 33 feet in width, divided into six bays, and is separated from
the side aisles--which are 17 feet in breadth--by two arcades of six
arches each. The outer wall of the north aisle is almost entirely
demolished, but this, fortunately, rather adds to the picturesque effect
of the ruin, whether viewed from the interior or the exterior. In the
former case, the distant glimpses of the country as seen through the
arches, and, in the latter case, the beautiful view obtained of the
interior of the church as seen from the outside (Fig. 757), lend an
unusual charm to the edifice. The side aisles have evidently been
vaulted, from the remains of the vaults still visible. It should be
observed that the main arches are slightly depressed, their centres
being below the level of the caps. The western doorway is plain and
small, and seems, from the corbels above for the support of a roof, to
have had some kind of porch in front of it. The doorway was originally
surmounted by a large window filled with tracery; but at a later time
the tracery seems to have given way, and has been partly
[Illustration: FIG. 757.--New Abbey, or Sweetheart Abbey. View from
North-West.]
[Illustration: FIG. 758.--New Abbey, or Sweetheart Abbey. Bay of Nave.]
replaced by solid masonry, which sustains a wheel of tracery in the arch
(possibly part of the original window), while the lower part is divided
into three smaller windows, with little buttresses between, each light
having been filled with separate tracery. The nave is also provided with
the usual door adjoining the transept and leading into the cloisters.
There is no triforium, the wall over the nave arcades (Fig. 758) being
blank till the clerestory is reached. The latter consists in the
interior of a series of three arches in each bay, and on the exterior
(see Fig. 757) chiefly of semicircular windows filled with five pointed
openings in each. The sill of the inner arches is kept considerably
below the level of that of the outer windows, so as to diminish the
blank space between the clerestory and the nave arcade. The main piers
consist of a series of rounds, with larger filleted shafts at the angles
(Fig. 759), and the caps and arch mouldings (see Fig. 758) indicate
first pointed work.
[Illustration: FIG. 759.