The name “Chartres” is of Norman origin, and I had always assumed that a distant ancestor had come to England in 1066 with William the Conqueror. If that was the case though, how did they end up in the Lowlands of Scotland? I found a better possible explanation in a tourist brochure….
The ruins of Kelso Abbey are one of the finest examples of Romanesque architecture surviving anywhere in Britain. Built in 1128 by Benedictine monks from Tiron Abbey, near Chartres in Northern France, it was once the grandest of the Border abbeys. The remains include part of the nave, the Western transept and half of the great West front and porch. Marvel at what remains of the great Western door and imagine how intricately sculptured it once was. Although Kelso became one of the largest and wealthiest of Scotland’s religious houses, its proximity to the English border exposed it to frequent attack.
So my theory is that the Chartres ancestor may have been a Monk, but more likely a stone mason engaged by the Monks to help build the new cathedral at Kelso.
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