4 days ago2 min read

Culross Abbey - Tuesday practical trip 12th Nov 2024

For this season’s practical session our syllabus secretary secured an open evening for us at Culross Abbey Church.

The Abbey was founded by Malcolm, Earl of Fife in 1217-1218 The Abbey Church was built soon after, with work continuing into the 1300s. Culross Abbey Church is a former Cistercian Abbey, headed by the Abbot or Commendatore of Culross which part of it is still used as the local parish church by the Church of Scotland.

The Abbey buildings underwent changes throughout its life. Around 1500, Abbot Andrew Masoun had the nave demolished and the choir rebuilt. He also added a new tower over the rood screen as the new west end of the reduced church. The Abbey had a reputation for being a producer of fine books, receiving an order from Stirling Castle’s Chapel Royal. But with the Reformation of 1560, monastic life came to an end, and the domestic buildings of the Abbey were largely left to fall into ruin.

It was a wonderful opportunity for the 16 of us to practice low light photography in the dim lit conditions with tripods for the required longer exposure times. The contributors’ of photographs for this blog are identified below (#} (thanks all ) . Sadly, the minister advised that the church was amongst the many that are in the process of being repurposed due to falling congregation numbers and usage. We promised to share some of his images for the Church social media and some of these images below are being donated to the Church. He kindly extended an invitation for us to visit again in daylight hours.

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