Robert The Bruce - Discovery of The Bruce's Tomb

Discovery of The Bruce's Tomb

On 17 February 1818, workmen breaking ground on the new parish church to be built on the site of the eastern choir of Dunfermline Abbey uncovered a tomb before the site of the former abbey high altar. The tomb was protected by two large stones - a headstone and a larger stone six feet (182 cm) in length. When these stones were removed, the workmen found inside the remains of an oak coffin the complete skeleton of an individual entirely enclosed in two layers of thin lead, with a shroud of cloth of gold over it. The individual’s sternum had been split open from top to bottom and around the skull there was a crude lead crown. In the debris around the grave, fragments of black and white marble were found, which were linked to Robert the Bruce’s recorded purchase of a marble sarcophagus.

Robert the Bruce’s remains were removed from the coffin and the deteriorating lead shroud and inspected by James Gregory and Alexander Monro, Professor of Anatomy at the University of Edinburgh. The bones were measured and drawn, then a plaster cast was taken of the skull by artist William Scoular. The king’s skeleton was measured to be 5 feet 11 inches (180 cm). It has been estimated that Bruce may have stood at around 6 feet 1 inch (186 cm) tall as a young man, which by medieval standards was impressive. At this height he would have stood almost as tall as Edward I ( 6 feet 2 inches; 188 cm). Robert the Bruce’s remains were ceremonially re-interred in Dunfermline Abbey on 5 November 1819 in a new lead coffin, into which was poured 1,500 lbs of molten pitch to preserve the remains, before the coffin was sealed.

Professor Sue Black and her team of forensic anthropologists from Dundee recreated his face from the cast made of his skull.