David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay, who died during imprisonment at
Falkland Palace in 1402, was buried at the Abbey. The abbey was sacked by a mob from Dundee in 1543, and again by
John Knox and his supporters in 1559. According to Knox, the Protestants overthrew the altars, broke up statues, burned the books and vestments and made them cast aside their monkish habits. After the Reformation, the Abbey passed into the hands of a Commendator, one whose loyal service to the crown was rewarded by the gift of the ecclesiastical income and property. The monks remained for a time, but the Abbey began to be dismantled around 1584. In the following years the Abbey buildings were quarried as a source of building stone for Newburgh, and slate, timber and carvings from the Abbey as well as a number of architectural fragments are visible built into later structures in the town. When
Patrick Leslie was Commendator, in August 1595,
Anne of Denmark met the
Earl of Orkney at Lindores . The main upstanding remains of the Abbey are: one of the gateways leading into the monastic enclosure; the groin-vaulted
slype, leading from the cloister garth to the exterior of the Abbey; and parts of the chancel walls and western tower of the church, although the ground plan of the whole structure can still be traced. Sections of the imposing precinct wall which once enclosed the abbey can also be seen in fields to the south. Carved wooden panels from the Abbey of the early 16th century survive in the Laing Museum, Newburgh and, reset in a 19th-century cabinet, in St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral,
Dundee. The monks distilled
rose water at the Abbey, and in May 1540 rosewater and apples from Lindores were sent to
James V. In 2018 a distillation vat was discovered in the ruins, along with evidence of whisky production. The remains of the still are preserved for display in the ruins. Since 2024, the
University of St Andrews and
Brandeis University have been operating a summer archaeological
field school course at the site. They are investigating patterns of monastic water use. == Lindores Abbey distillery ==