This is a slide show (thumbnails and larger versions) of pictures of Paisley Abbey, Renfrewshire, Scotland. The charter to establish the priory at Paisley, seven miles west from Glasgow, was signed in 1163 by Walter FitzAlan whose descendants became the Stewart monarchs of Scotland. The building celebrated its 850th anniversary in 2013. The priory, which was sited on a church founded by St Mirin around 560AD, was raised to the status of abbey in 1245.
In 1307, the original abbey was burned down by King Edward I of England, and little remains of that first building. But it was completely rebuilt later in the 14th century. In succeeding centuries, fires and the collapse of a tower caused considerable damage and parts of the abbey lay open to the skies for 350 years. It was not until the 19th century that it was reroofed and a number of walls were restored. As recently as 1980/81, a new timber ceiling was erected in the nave to replace a "temporary" plaster ceiling of 1788!
The Abbey is extremely long - 279 feet from the West Door to the East Window, making it one of the longest surviving ecclesiastical buildings in Scotland. Inside, the Abbey contains a large number of noteworthy features, many of which are illustrated in this slide show feature.
Note that once you are viewing the larger images you can move to the next or previous image using the navigation controls instead of having to return to this thumbnail index.
There is also an article on Paisley Abbey, its history and features on this site at Places to Visit - Paisley Abbey.
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