During the forty years prior to the Reformation the abbey enjoyed the protection of the Earl of Carrick, two eminent members of the family being about that time abbots in succession to each other. At this period the right of appointment to vacant benefices was gradually passing into the hands of the Crown, and by 1550 that change was completed.
In those troublous times the Church was felt to be in danger, and Abbot William Kennedy, who had acted as guardian to the young Earl Cassilis, who was then abroad, wrote to him to return to Scotland to look after the interests of the abbey. At the same time the Archbishop of Glasgow sent all his possessions to Crosraguel, as to a place of safety. These consisted of embroidered vestments, gold and silver plate, jewels, and a library of books of great value.
Abbot William was succeeded by his nephew, Quintin Kennedy (1547-64), an ardent champion of the Church, whose contest with Knox at Maybole in 1562 is well known. It is thought that he was the first abbot to occupy the abbots’ tower, a fortified pele which stands at the south-east corner of the grounds. Gilbert M‘Brayar, one of the monks, is said to have made many “sumptuous additions” to the monastery. These were probably domestic structures in the cloister, whose ruins are still traceable.
In 1561 an Act was passed by the Privy Council suppressing “Idolatori and all monumentis thairof,” and Arran, Glencairn, and Argyle were despatched to the West to carry the Act into execution. Amongst the other demolitions executed by them was the casting down of part of Crosraguel.
Ten years before the Reformation leases of church lands were frequently granted to nobles and other powerful individuals who were able to protect them. Thus, in 1564, the whole benefice of Crosraguel was leased to the Earl of Cassillis for 700 marks (£466, 13s. 4d.) Under his protection the monks continued to occupy the monastery till 1592, probably later than any other abbey in Scotland.
In 1570 occurred the famous “roasting of the abbot.” The Earl of Cassillis had resolved to get the whole property of the abbey into his hands, and endeavoured, by torturing Allan Stewart, the abbot, to force him to surrender the titles of the lands of the abbey, and he thus succeeded, in consideration of a large sum, in becoming sole proprietor of the regality. The abbot survived, but was maimed for life. He disposed of every shred of the monastic property, and died in 1587. The annexation to the Crown took place the same year. The possessions had been gradually disposed of by Queen Mary and her son to numerous retainers. George Buchanan received a pension out of the revenues, and King James intended to restore the abbey as a residence for his son Henry.
In 1617 the whole benefice was annexed to the Bishopric of Dunblane, in order to provide a suitable support for the bishop. On the overthrow of Episcopacy, in 1689, the revenues were annexed to the Crown; and now the sole relic of the great regality of Crosraguel is the small plot of ground enclosing the ruins.
The abbey buildings ([Fig. 813]) have been of considerable extent, and still comprise, besides the remains of the church and cloisters, with the usual ecclesiastical buildings surrounding them, an outer court to the south-west, with a picturesque gatehouse, pigeon-house, and other domestic structures. There was also an eastern courtyard, which contained the abbot’s hall, and the adjoining tower or keep, the infirmary, &c. The whole precincts were enclosed with a high wall, which included an extensive garden. The small burn which flows along the south side is believed to have fed fish-ponds in the neighbourhood. The church ([Fig. 813]) is a simple oblong structure, consisting of choir and nave, without aisles and without transepts. It would appear, however, from excavations carried out by the Ayrshire and Galloway Archæological Association, that the original church of the thirteenth century contained a north and south transept, some traces of the foundations of which were disclosed. A few other relics of this earlier church are observable in the base of the western part of the nave, in traces of the jambs of the western doorway and the jambs of the north doorway of the nave; but the remainder of the church has been entirely rebuilt, chiefly on the old foundations.
It is thought by Mr. Morris, who illustrates and describes the abbey in the publication of the above Association, that part of the older building is traceable in the wall between the choir and the sacristy, where vaulting shafts exist on the sacristy side in such a position as not to be available in the present structure ([Fig. 814]). From this fact he forms the deduction that these shafts and the wall they are attached to are part of the original church. He is further of opinion that the part of the ancient church