melrose abbey,scotland, a photo from Scottish Borders, Scotland

Photographer's Note

hello...St Mary's Abbey, Melrose is a partly ruined monastery of the Cistercian order in Melrose, Roxburghshire, in the Scottish Borders. It was founded in 1136 by Cistercian monks at the request of King David I of Scotland, and was the chief house of that order in the country until the Reformation. It was headed by the Abbot or Commendator of Melrose. Today the abbey is maintained by Historic Scotland.

The east end of the abbey was completed in 1146. Other buildings in the complex were added over the next 50 years. The abbey was built in the Gothic manner, and in the form of a St. John's Cross. A considerable portion of the abbey is now in ruins. A structure dating from 1590 is maintained as a museum open to the public.

Alexander II and other Scottish kings and nobles are buried at the abbey. A lead container believed to hold the embalmed heart of Robert the Bruce was found in 1921 below the Chapter House site; it was found again in a 1998 excavation. This was documented in records of his death. The rest of his body is buried in Dunfermline Abbey.

The abbey is known for its many carved decorative details, including likenesses of saints, dragons, gargoyles and plants. On one of the abbey's stairways is an inscription by John Morow, a master mason, which says, Be halde to ye hende ("Keep in mind, the end, your salvation"). This has become the motto of the town of Melrose.

pajaran, PiotrF, bukitgolfb301, macjake, ikeharel, snunney, jhm, cornejo, Royaldevon, ChrisJ, LuisGustavoLima ha contrassegnato questa nota come utile

Critiques | Translate

PiotrF (54636) 2017-07-26 16:12

Hello Dale,
Interesting view of St Mary's Abbey with wonderful old architecture.Perfect framing, very good POV, nice exposure and fine composition.
Nice shot.
Regards
Piot

bukitgolfb301 (54014) 2017-07-26 18:44

Hi dear Dale

Deep expoaure and wide focus appraoch makes so clear and sharp presnetaation in the details. The best framework and comspoition image as usual.

All the best and have a good day! Takero

macjake (98454) 2017-07-26 18:58

Hi Dale
another beauty here. the subject matter is A+.
do you have any photos of these dragons and gargoyles? love to see them.

smart angle that you took the photo on, it looks so good from here, and we have the head stones upfront and center too. Very clear and concise photo, looks great. cheers
Craig

ikeharel (113319) 2017-07-26 21:26

Hello Dale,
Only passing with a bus near those ruins, back in 08/1993 visit - but I remember the place.
Chosen well the POV, fine outcome.
Regards,
Ike

jemaflor (147104) 2017-07-26 23:30

Hi Dale,
Charming light well captured, perfect to give a nice green for the grass, well composed with tombs in the Fg, good depth result, interesting and beautiful architecture, tfs.

emka (158128) 2017-07-26 23:44

Hello Dale,
I like such old ruined abbeys very much. They look romantic. Wonderful gothic windows. Interesting graveyards. Beautiful composition.

Kind regrad s MAlgo

lousat (139236) 2017-07-27 1:15

Hi Dale,a magnificent postcard of this abbey,a part in ruin but a part of architechture is still preserved. A long history as i can read in your note. The pic is perfect and made in the best light,well done! Have a nice day and thanks,Luciano

holmertz (102672) 2017-07-27 2:04

Hello Dale,
A very good composition where the ruins and the gravestones are all very neatly placed on diagonals. The superb colours and light make the view very attractive, and of course the magnificent ruins are extremely eye-catching.
Kind regards,
Gert

snunney (130967) 2017-07-27 3:55

Hello Dale,
Excellent well cropped composition. The framing headstones set the scene and complement the stonework of the ruined abbey. I like very much the lights and warm tones. Clarity is very good indeed.

jhm (211736) 2017-07-27 6:26

Hello Dale,

This is nice I have much books (strips) readed about the old castles in Schotland with much ghost stories.
Lovely daily life picture.
You chose an excellent angle, this create depth and perspective
An excellent composition and presentation.
Very well done, TFS.

Have a nice day,
John.

RPoole5552 (1822) 2017-07-27 11:15

Interesting story and nice photo composition. I like the photo as is, but I think a different time of day would make an even more appealing photo. Or maybe different weather. I can only imagine this Abbey fog shrouded.

cornejo (61504) 2017-07-27 13:04

Hello Dale, a very good photo of this interesting old abbey, very well captured in this interesting image, with good clarity, light, color and quality. A great work perfectly done, my congratulations, my friend. Thank you for sharing this interesting work.

Good night and happy weekend.
All the best from the south of Spain.
Angel.

carlo62 (81265) 2017-07-27 14:33

Ciao Dale
bella e interessante questa antica abbazia, è molto affascinante e con una lunga storia.
Hai ottenuto un ottimo risultato, nella tua composizione hai fatto entrare molti elementi.
Saluti
Carlo

Royaldevon (85932) 2017-07-28 2:43

Hello Dale,

This is a fine capture of Melrose Abbey and brings back happy memories when I visited the ruin with a group of TE friends. John (tyro) was eager to take us round the ruin.

You had a lovely day for the photography, giving bright colours and your chosen viewpoint works extremely well, using the gravestones to set the scene and act as guides to the focal abbey.

Have a great w/e,
Bev :-)

ChrisJ (171822) 2017-07-28 8:03

Hello Dale,

I wonder what happened to cause the abbey to be ruined? Perhaps a fire or invasion from an army? Anyway perfect sharpness and density levels with the red bricks contrasting well with the blue sky. Tfs!

LuisGustavoLima (5184) 2017-08-01 17:38

Olá, Dale!

Boa foto!
Este tipo de arquitetura me chama muito a atenção, acho linda! Lugar interessante, que proporcionou uma boa composição. A grama tem uma cor bonita.
Parabéns!