Kelso Abbey reopens after five years closed

Kelso Abbey opened its gates again on 24 July, five years after an inspection found loose masonry high on the walls and closed the place to visitors. Historic Environment Scotland spent this year on consolidation, repointing and netting, and it is open daily now, 9.30am to 5pm.

Kelso is the oldest of the four Borders abbeys, founded in 1128 by monks who came at the invitation of David I, and at its height one of the wealthiest religious houses in Scotland. Little of that wealth is legible now. What stands is the west end, tall and abrupt, and it is more striking for being a fragment. The young James III was crowned inside it in 1460, days after his father died at the siege of nearby Roxburgh.

Community groups pushed for the reopening for years. The abbey turns 900 in 2028.