Jedburgh is famous for its ruined Abbey, which was nearly destroyed by the English Earl of Hertford’s forces in 1544–45, during the “Rough Wooing”. English King Henry VIII (1491–1547) attempted (forcefully) to persuade the Scots that it was a good idea to unite the kingdoms by the marriage of his son to the infant Mary, Queen of Scots (1542–87); the Scots disagreed and sent Mary to France instead.
Scotland has many ruined Abbeys, but there are still some elaborate details carved into this particular one. This Abby was under construction for so long that no one builder saw the project from start to finish. But then again laying the foundation started in 1150! We had fun with some of the displays where we rebuilt arches using blocks of wood that serve as replicas of stones.
