 This forced the Barons of the Exchequer (the administrators of the Palace) to close the church on safety grounds in 1766, following inspection by William Mylne.On 2 December 1768 the roof collapsed in two stages, leaving the abbey as it currently stands, a roofless ruin.The restoration of the abbey has been proposed several times since the 18th century – in 1835 by the architect James Gillespie Graham as a meeting place for the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and, in 1906, as a chapel for the Knights of the Thistle – but both proposals were rejected.