Lincluden Collegiate Church was built around 1400, replacing a dilapidated Benedictine nunnery. It was established by Archibald ‘the Grim’, Lord of Galloway, who installed priests and bedesmen to pray for his soul and those of his family and descendants. The surviving choir and part of the nave have some of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in Scotland. The monumental tomb of Princess Margaret, widow of the 4th Earl of Douglas and daughter of Robert III, also survives.

Although the church survived the Protestant Reformation of 1560, the domestic ranges were later converted into mansion house which was abandoned by 1700. Decimated as a quarry until the late 19th century, it eventually became a national monument under the stewardship of Historic Scotland.