Crossraguel Abbey, founded in 1244 by the Earl of Carrick, who originally gave money to the monks of Paisley Abbey for its construction.
The monks, however, built nothing more than a small chapel and kept the rest of the money for themselves. The Earl complained to the
Bishop of Glasgow, who then forced the monks to build a proper abbey here. The abbey was destroyed in 1307 by the army of Edward I,
and rebuilt on a grander scale, remaining a monastery until 1560, when the Reformation put an end to monasteries in Scotland.
The Abbey ruins are some of the most complete medieval religious structures in Scotland.