Kelso Abbey dates from 1128 and was built by Tironensian monks, a Cistercian order based in France. It was of unusual construction in that it had transepts at both ends. The north transept façade was considered one of the finest pieces of Romanesque architecture in Scotland. James III was crowned in the Abbey in 1460 and Kelso was to suffer much devastation in later years, as did many Border Abbeys. The primary culprit was the Earl of Hertford in 1545 when the defenders were massacred in one of the Abbey’s towers. Covenanters used the ruins as a barracks, a jail and a church.