Founded in the mid 1200s, Crossraguel was one of only two Cluniac monasteries in Scotland. Its name comes from the Cross of Riaghail, a great Christian standing cross, which previously stood on the location. Raighail was an Irish saint. 

Much of the surviving ruins, such as the abbey church and cloister, date back to the 1300s and 1400s, after it was destroyed by Edward I's forces in 1307. The gatehouse, with its well preserved, three-storey square tower house and garret within a parapet, and the Abbot's Tower House, were added during the 16th century.