It was founded in 1136 by Cistercian monks at the request of King David I of Scotland and was the chief house of that order in the country until the Reformation.

The abbey is known for its many carved decorative details, including likenesses of saints, dragons, gargoyles and plants.

On one of the abbey's stairways is an inscription by John Morow, a master mason, which says, Be halde to ye hende ("Keep in mind, the end, your salvation").

An earlier monastery was founded by, then later dedicated to, Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne on a site about two miles (3.5 km) east of Melrose Abbey.

Its founder David endowed it with the lands of Melrose, Eildon, and other places; and the right of fishery on the River Tweed.

He endowed Melrose with a reputation for sanctity and learning which placed it on a par with houses such as Fountains and Rievaulx and made it the premier abbey in Scotland.

[6] One of the earliest accounts of the Magna Carta agreement reached at Runnymede in 1215 is found in the Chronicle of Melrose Abbey.

It was rebuilt by order of King Robert the Bruce, with Sir James Douglas being the principal auditor of finance for the project.

On 29 September 1549 an English soldier discovered the pyx that had been suspended over the high altar and gave it to the Earl of Rutland.

The abbey withstood one final assault, and some of its walls still show the marks of cannon fire after having been bombarded by Oliver Cromwell's troops during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.

In 1822, with the financial assistance of the Duke of Buccleuch, Sir Walter supervised the extensive repair work that was to preserve the ruins.

Robert Bruce's heart is said to have been buried in the church, perhaps brought back from a crusade with the body of Lord Douglas in either 1330 or 1331.

In 1996, an archaeological excavation on the site unearthed a conical lead container and an engraved copper plaque that read "The enclosed leaden casket containing a heart was found beneath Chapter House floor, March 1921, by His Majesty's Office of Works."

The casket was investigated by AOC archaeology in Leith and contained a still recognisable human heart in a thick black liquor.

[21] A Presbyterian congregation in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, built a Gothic church in the U.S. and patterned it after Melrose Abbey.

[clarification needed] The church, Kirk in the Hills, completed in 1958, is located on a 40-acre (160,000 m2) lakeside setting 20 miles (32 km) north of Detroit.

[25] A report in February 2023 stated that "conservation work means that the church itself is closed off to visitors, but the cloisters, museum and gardens are still open".