Description

The monument is the remains of an arched gateway and attached fragment of walling dating probably from the middle of the 12th century. It is visible as a fragment of upstanding medieval masonry, comprising the W jamb and the spring of the arched gateway and an attached section of ashlar sandstone wall. The gateway is sometimes known as the South Port or Nether Yett and would originally have been the main access from the S into the monastic precinct of Dunfermline Abbey. The gateway was subsequently incorporated within the boundary wall of the later abbey church manse and is now dislocated from the main abbey ruins, which lie some 240m to the NW. The monument lies to the S of the burgh of Dunfermline, overlooking Tower Burn and Pittencrieff Park. The monument was originally scheduled in 1981, but the documentation did not meet modern standards: the present amendment rectifies this.

The scheduled area is irregular on plan to include the remains described above and an area around them in which evidence for the monument's construction, use and abandonment is expected to survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as a rare example of an upstanding medieval monastic precinct gateway and fragment of attached precinct wall. It can make a significant contribution to our general understanding of the layout of medieval abbey precincts, medieval construction techniques and medieval concepts of spiritual and temporal separation, as well as to the layout and extent of the precincts of Dunfermline Abbey in particular. The monument survives in good condition and is an integral part of the story of the development of the medieval abbey and burgh. It represents an important component of both the medieval and contemporary urban landscapes. The loss of the monument would diminish our ability to understand the form, function and character of medieval monastic gateways and boundaries in Scotland.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the castle as NT58NE 5

References

Cowan, I B and Easson, D E 1976, Medieval religious houses in Scotland: with an appendix on the houses in the Isle of Man, London, 51.

Fawcett, R 1986, Dunfermline Abbey.

Fawcett, R (ed.) 2005, Royal Dunfermline, Edinburgh, 998.

Hogg, S 2005a, 'Dunfermline Abbey, Fife (Dunfermline parish), watching brief', Discovery Excav Scot, 6, 72.

RCAHMS 1933, The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments and Constructions of Scotland. Eleventh report with inventory of monuments and constructions in the counties of Fife, Kinross, and Clackmannan, Edinburgh, 106-21, no 197, figs 214, 229, 241.
Historic Environment Scotland Properties
Dunfermline Abbey, Nether Yett
https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/dunfermline-abbey-and-palace
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Source: Historic Environment Scotland