Cistercian monks from Melrose Abbey had established …

Years: 1150 - 1150

Cistercian monks from Melrose Abbey had established Newbattle Abbey in 1140; the patron was King David I of Scotland (with his son Henry).

A filiation of Melrose Abbey (itself a daughter of the Rievaulx Abbey), Newbattle Abbey is situated, according to Cistercian usage, in a beautiful valley along the River South Esk.

Rudolph, its first abbot, a strict and severe observer of the rule, devotes himself energetically to the erection of proper buildings.

The church, cruciform in shape, is two hundred and forty feet in length, and the other buildings in proportion; for the community numbers at one period as many as eighty monks and seventy lay-brothers.

The abbey had soon became prosperous, and famous for the regularity of its members, several of whom are to become well-known bishops.

The town of Airdrie owes its existence to its location on the 'Hogs Back'—a ridge of land running from east to west.

One very important aspect of the town’s history is the Cisterian presence at Newbattle Abbey, hence a name for the wider area; Monklands.

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