---
title: "Iona Abbey"
description: "Located in Iona, Western Isles. Built c.1200; restored 1902–10. Grade Category A. Medieval Benedictine style."
category: "Church"
tags: ["Church","Historic Scotland","Western Isles","Iona","Category A","Abbey","Historic Environment Scotland","St Columba"]
canonical: "https://thebritishgazette.com/post/iona-abbey-iona"
pubDate: "2026-09-06T01:52:58.637Z"
dateModified: "2026-09-07T14:52:48.701Z"
location: "Iona, Western Isles"
country: "Scotland"
county: "Western Isles"
town: "Iona"
address: "Iona, Western Isles, PA76 6SN"
postcode: "PA76 6SN"
built: "c.1200; restored 1902–10"
denomination: "Historic Scotland"
dedications: ["Mary"]
grade: "Category A"
style: "Medieval Benedictine"
materials: "Stone masonry, 13th–15th century with 20th-century restoration"
website: "https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/iona-abbey-and-nunnery/"
openingHours: "Open all year April to September: 9:30am to 5:30pm and October to March: 10am to 4pm (HS charges apply)."
parish: "Kilfinichen and Kilvickeon"
gridReference: "NM 286 245"
accessNotes: "Accessible toilets nearby. Level access to the main areas"
---

# Iona Abbey

Iona Abbey is the Category A former Benedictine monastery on Iona in the Inner Hebrides, on the site of St Columba’s foundation of 563 and in the care of Historic Environment Scotland.

## Overview

Columba’s monastic settlement became a major centre of Celtic Christianity. Around 1200 Reginald, son of Somerled, established a Benedictine abbey (papal confirmation 1203) dedicated to St Mary. The cruciform church was developed through the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries: an aisle-less nave and choir with transepts, later choir work, and a major fifteenth-century campaign that widened the nave and rebuilt the west front and east end. The community was pillaged in 1561 after the Reformation. The buildings passed through lay hands until they were presented to the Church of Scotland in 1899.

Restoration of the abbey church in 1902–10 under the Iona Cathedral Trust reused extensive medieval masonry. Cloister ranges retain thirteenth- to fifteenth-century fabric; the west range is a twentieth-century structure. The wider monastic settlement is a scheduled monument. The Iona Community occupies the restored buildings alongside visitor access to the abbey and nunnery.

## Further Information

- [Historic Environment Scotland: Iona Abbey and Nunnery](https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/iona-abbey-and-nunnery/)
- [Listed building LB12310](https://www.trove.scot/designation/LB12310)
- [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iona_Abbey)