2-889-465 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Part of Holyrood Palace and Abbey, 1850. Exterior of the abbey and Palace of Holyrood at Edinburgh in Scotland. 'Holyrood Abbey was founded in 1128, by David II. In 1332, it was completely plundered by the army of Edward III., and in 1335 burnt by that of Richard II. But the greatest destruction took place in 1544, during the naval irruption of the Earl of Hertford, when the choir and transept of the Church were entirely demolished, and nothing was left standing but the nave, the portion which now exists as a ruin.... In the brief reign of James VII., mass was celebrated in it, to the no small indignation of the people; and immediately on the abdication of that Monarch, the populace again demolished this remnant of the hated religion, by reducing the chapel to ruins. [It] has been allowed to remain in a ruinous state to the present time'. From "Illustrated London News", 1850.