Kinloss Abbey and Graveyard (Kinloss Village)

 ruins, cemetery, monastery, Order of Cistercians, catholicism

Catholic Abbey Ruins and Grounds/Graveyard of Kinloss in 1150 ad.
a Cistercian abbey approximately 3 miles east of Forres in the county of Moray, Scotland.

The abbey was founded in 1150 by King David I and was first colonised by monks from Melrose Abbey. It received its Papal Bull from Pope Alexander III in 1174, and later came under the protection of the Roma Catholic Bishop of Moray in 1187.
The abbey went on to become one of the largest and prosperous religious houses in Scotland, receiving the valuable salmon fishing rights on the River Findhorn from Robert the Bruce in 1312, subsequently renewed by James I and James IV.

During its history the abbey has received many royal visitors, including Edward I in 1303, Edward III in 1336 and Mary Queen of Scots in 1562. The most renowned of the 24 abbots the monastery had was Robert Reid. Reid introduced organised public education, erecting a new public library and other buildings at the abbey. He became Bishop of Orkney in 1541 and, following his death, became the founder and benefactor of Edinburgh University with funds from his estate.