Stereoscopic photograph of Melrose Abbey from the south west with the burial ground in the foreground.

Melrose Abbey was founded by King David I of Scotland in 1136 as a Cistercian Monastery and provided the burial place for Scotland's Kings. It suffered severe destruction at the hands of the English during the 14th century after which it was repaired but again the abbey was damaged during the Reformation in the first half of the 16th century.