Alan Visits Balmerino Abbey
I recently visited Balmerino Abbey a few miles from my hometown. I remember first visiting the abbey with my parents when I was a child. To this day, I love nothing more that wandering through the grounds of old abbeys and churches. Even better, too, if the buildings are intact and still in use.
Balmerino Abbey was founded in 1229 by Queen Ermengarde, widow of William I, or, more commonly, William the Lion. In the autumn of said year, a band of twelve Cistercian monks, led by Abbot Alan (coincidence?), arrived on foot from Melrose in the Scottish borders.