Begun soon after 1,138, the abbey church is one of the most complete in Scotland; in its lee lie the remains of the cannons'domestic buildings around a fragrant cloister garden.  In addition, the abbey houses one of the most beautiful collections of Early Christian stones, all found in or around Jedburgh Abbey.

The church was the focus of life in the abbey. The first phase of building extended west to the first two bays of the nave, in order to provide a buttress for the bell tower over the crossing, as well as completing the space needed for the cannons' choir.

The Nave was the only part of the abbey open to lay people. Begun in the 1180's, it was not completed until early in the following century. It was planned on a grand scale; divided into nine bays flanked by an aisle on each side and three stories in height. The nave arcade has richly-moulded arches carried on eight lobed piers topped with elegant capitals. Above these the galleries have round-arched openings subdivided with two pointed arches in each bay and above them the clearstorey provided light for the nave with two windows in a continuous arcade of four arches to each bay.The subtleties of the carving of the capitals and the forming of the vaults over the aisles show that the nave was probably built from west to east.