Isle of May, Benedictine Priory

The priory was founded c.1135 by David I and was a possesion of Reading Abbey, built on an earlier site which had been use since the seventh century. When the site was excavated in 1995 it was suggested that the Benetictine Monks used the existing chapel until the mid-thirteenth century. At this point a new church was constructed on the site of the old one.  Above ground are the remains of a rectangular building with lancet windows in its northern end, which probably dates to the thirteenth century. Excavations by GUARD in 1993 revealed the building to have been 13.0m by 5.2m internally. There is also evidence that the priory was subject to several Viking raids. It was no longer in use by the end of the fourteenth century and was converted to domestic use in the sixteenth century.

The church is built in early Gothic pointed style from sandstone rubble and is rectangular, measuring approximately 13m x 5.2m internally. In the west wall of the church are two lancet windows and there are the remains of a third in the north gable.  The north of the building is divided from the south by a partition wall, which may have been added in the sixteenth century when the building was put to domestic use.

More detailed information on the monastery can be found on RCHAMS Canmore database, which describes a series of excavations in the 1990s by Fife Regional Council, Scottish Natural Heritage and GUARD.