📌 Kilwinning, North Ayrshire
★★
The south transept of this once great building soars high above Kilwinning town centre. The abbey was built in the 12th century as a daughter house of Kelso Abbey, with the widest medieval church in Scotland at its centre. Much of the stonework was plundered or demolished for a new church in the 1700s, but it’s still a very attractive aspect of the town and Main Street. The impressive clock tower on the northwest side is a modern (well, early 19th century!) addition, and its interior is open to the public on summer Sundays afternoons; as well as seeing the museum exhibits, you can climb the spiral stairs to see the bells, chiming mechanism and the excellent views from the roof.
🌍 Location
📌 Main Street, Kilwinning town centre
🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NS 303433
🛰️ GPS coordinates: 55.653329,-4.698428
🚌 Bus to Kilwinning | 🚆 Kilwinning (0.5 mi)
🚗 Car park / street parking on south side
📝 Key info
⌚ Abbey ruins always open. Heritage centre: Easter long weekend plus Friday to Sunday afternoons, mid May to mid September
🎫 Free
🔗 Abbey: historicenvironment.scot | Heritage Centre: kilwinning.org – website down at time of update
