 In 1531, the Abbot of Newbattle agreed with the Abbot of Dunfermline to work his coalmine at Prestongrange so that it would drain water from the neighbouring mines (which belonged to Dunfermline Abbey) to the sea.Newbattle suffered much from English incursions at various times, particularly in 1385 when the monastery and church were burned, and the religious either carried away or forced to flee to other monasteries; it required 40 years to repair these losses.A part of the monastery was again destroyed by the Earl of Hertford, but the destruction seems to have been chiefly confined to the church.