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The secluded spot where Mary Queen of Scots sheltered during her last hours in Scotland. Now a ruin, the 12th-century abbey was home to a community of Cistercian monks for 400 years. The peaceful woodland location fitted very much with the Cistercian ideal, described by Abbot Ailred of Rievaulx as, 'Everywhere peace, everywhere serenity, and a marvellous freedom from the tumult of the world'.