Dunfermline Abbey, St Margaret’s Cave, Catholic church, Dunfermline

Traces of St Margaret’s veneration are scattered across town, linked by an annual pilgrim walk, and visited by the Fife Pilgrims Way and St Margaret’s Way

Highlights

• Tomb shrine of St Margaret
• Medieval abbey buildings and church
• Underground retreat used by St Margaret
• Saint’s relic

Greater by far than the sum of its parts, Dunfermline could justifiably claim to be Scotland’s holiest place. The different sites dotted around the town are like pieces in a jigsaw, giving a remarkably complete experience of St Margaret of Scotland.

Fortunately, the dots are being joined up, greatly helped by the launch of the St Margaret’s National Pilgrimage in 2015, described in an excellent booklet available online at www.saintsandrelics.co.uk. It will take most of a day to visit all the places connected to St Margaret. The starting point is Dunfermline Abbey and its surrounding palace and gardens. I have drawn up a list of the main sites (see below), in the same order as the text below.

Part of the abbey remains in use by the Church of Scotland as a parish church, while the rest of the grounds and palace ruins are cared for by Historic Environment Scotland. It is steadily reintroducing more signage and connections between its pilgrimage treasures.

St Margaret is one of Britain’s best-loved saints and an important historical figure. Born around 1045 into the English royal family, she married King Malcolm III of Scotland and was famous for her strong faith and just rule. She died in 1093.‍

Dunfermline Abbey and St Margaret’s tomb‍

St Margaret and King Malcolm built the original church here, along with Scotland’s first Benedictine monastery. The current abbey is built on the same site, and most of it is managed by Historic Environment Scotland. Inside the abbey nave, you can see the foundations of the original building through grilles on the floor.

St Margaret’s tomb is easy to find in the abbey gardens, outside the east end of the church buildings. The side chapel that housed it was demolished after the Reformation, and the abbey wall was sealed up behind it. You can visit the tomb all year round whenever the gardens are open. It is an evocative site, shut out of the church. The extensive ruins of royal buildings stand nearby.

The tomb is a substantial edifice, peaceful and increasingly sought out by visitors to the abbey. Although no longer housing her remains, it has been the site of numerous miracles and visions since the 12th century. The saint’s lingering spiritual presence is helpfully recorded by the information panel alongside, which connects this site to the relic of the saint venerated nearby, as described below. The tomb was partially restored in the 19th century at the request of Queen Victoria but was not enclosed. The rain-streaked monument lies under open sky.‍

Abbey church‍

After visiting the tomb, you can then enter the abbey church itself. This is still an active house of worship, an impressive Church of Scotland building. Despite being a major visitor attraction, it is only open to visitors from April to late October. The church contains the grave of King Robert the Bruce, a magnificent brass engraving beautifully tended by the church and decorated with fresh flowers on my visit. Rather different from the setting of St Margaret’s tomb, which lies a few metres away outside the east wall. Dunfermline does have a certain symmetry: the church celebrates a head of state, while the state celebrates pilgrimage to a saint’s relic.‍

Relic of St Margaret‍

It is fair to say St Margaret’s tomb has been abandoned for centuries and any restoration of a chapel would be controversial. St Margaret’s body was removed, and her relics scattered abroad around the time of the Reformation. Many were lost, but in the 19th century, an authenticated shoulder bone was returned to Scotland from Spain.

This relic was kept for 150 years by the Ursuline Sisters’ convent in Edinburgh. On 16 November 2008, the bone was translated permanently to Dunfermline. It sits in the Lady Chapel of Dunfermline’s Catholic church, which is half a mile east of the abbey. St Margaret’s relic is beautifully displayed there under the altar in a crystal cylinder.

The Catholic church welcomes pilgrims to its shrine, and is open daily 9am to 5pm. Thanks to the Roman Catholic community, St Margaret has returned home to Dunfermline in more ways than one. Details of the town’s annual pilgrimage walk are available on the church’s website, details at the end.

Incidentally, the heritage centre in Abbot House, just north of the Abbey on Maygate, has an exhibition on St Margaret. This includes a replica of her medieval head shrine.‍

St Margaret’s Cave‍

The final site of major holy significance is in some ways the best. This is a cave chapel where St Margaret herself would retreat for prayer. Thankfully preserved during the construction of a town-centre car park in the 1960s, the chapel is free to enter through a small shop and exhibition, open daily from April to September. It’s a few minutes’ walk from the abbey complex.

A long tunnel and steps eventually bring you to a small rocky cavern. A life-size statue of St Margaret praying with a crucifix and some suitable background music are enough to mark the religious significance of the saint’s own holy place.

There is also one minor location linked to St Margaret on the outskirts of Dunfermline, by the entrance to the modern Pitreavie Business Park. Unlikely though the setting sounds, a huge boulder by the roadside is where St Margaret rested on her way to meet her future husband King Malcolm in 1069. The stone has her name engraved on its base, and a modern plaque recording its history.‍

St Margaret’s life and legacy‍

St Margaret was born in England but fled to Scotland with her mother after the Norman Conquest. She soon married King Malcolm III. As both saint and queen, she could hardly have a better pedigree. Her uncle was St Edward the Confessor, patron saint of England until the 14th century.

Prayer was just one of the many acts of devotion St Margaret was famous for. Before she ate, the queen would personally serve dinner to orphans, widows, and the destitute – up to 300 people at a time.

Her list of church endowments is too long to repeat; it is enough to note that she revived Iona’s monastery, founded Dunfermline Abbey, and probably paid for the famous St Rule’s Church and Tower at St Andrews. St Margaret’s Chapel in Edinburgh Castle is also traditionally associated with the saint, though it is now thought to date from the 12th century – one of Scotland’s oldest churches even so.

St Margaret is not recognised as a saint by the Orthodox church, because most of her life and canonisation date from after the Great Schism in 1054. But there is an unusually strong family link to Orthodoxy. Her father Edward was banished from England and took refuge in Kiev, which was then enjoying its Golden Age as the founding city of Russian Orthodoxy. Something for everyone with an ecumenical heart.

St Margaret is remembered on 16 November, the date of her death in 1093 at the age of 48. She died in grief three days after hearing of the deaths of her husband and son, ambushed by his long-term enemy the Earl of Northumbria at Alnwick Castle in northern England.‍

Dunfermline Abbey, St Margaret Street, Dunfermline KY12 7PE

www.dunfermlineabbey.com

www.historicenvironment.scot (search for Dunfermline Abbey)

W3W: taking.lasts.chill

GPS: 56.0699N 3.4629W (tomb)‍

St Margaret’s Catholic Church, East Port, Dunfermline KY12 7JA

www.stmargaretsdunfermline.co.uk

W3W: splice.gender.rooms

GPS: 56.0722N 3.4546W‍

St Margaret’s Cave, Glen Bridge car park, Chalmers Street, Dunfermline KY12 8DF

onfife.com/venues/st-margarets-cave

W3W: exact.shack.piper

GPS: 56.0722N 3.4650W‍

The abbey grounds, which include St Margaret’s tomb and the nave, are open all year under the care of Historic Environment Scotland. Summer opening times are daily 9:30am–5:30pm, from 1 Oct to 31 Mar 10am–4pm closed on Thurs–Fri; last entry 30 minutes before closing. There is a ticket office on site, tel: 01383 739026. Admission costs £6 adults, concessions £4.80, children over 5 £3.60.

The abbey church is run by the Church of Scotland and open from early April to late October, full details on the website or tel: 01383 724586.

St Margaret’s Catholic Church is a prominent red stone building just over half a mile east of the abbey complex, on East Port. It is open daily from 9am to 5pm.St Margaret’s Cave is on the north-east corner of Glen Bridge car park on Chalmers Street. It is open daily from 1 April – 30 September, 11am–4pm, telephone number 01383 602365

St Margaret’s Stone is on Pitreavie Way, the southern entrance to Pitreavie Business Park. As you head north into Dunfermline on the A823