Inchmahome Priory

The Comyn family were one of the most powerful in Scotland at the time, and had an imposing country house on Inch Talla, one of the other islands on the Lake of Menteith.

In 1547, the priory served as a refuge for Queen Mary, aged four, hidden there for a few weeks following the disastrous defeat of the Scots army at the Battle of Pinkie during the Rough Wooing.

[1] The decline of the monastic orders in the 16th century was hastened when the heads of the abbeys and priories started being appointed by local landowners, who often did not share the religious goals of the monks or ordained priests.

After the Scottish Reformation, no new priests were ordained, and religious land and buildings gradually passed into secular hands, inevitably leading to the priory's decline.

Although most of the buildings are now ruins, much of the original 13th-century structure remains, and it is now in the care of Historic Environment Scotland, who maintain and preserve it as a scheduled ancient monument.