Dale Abbey (monastery)

Dale Abbey
Derbyshire
The east window of Dale Abbey
Location
Grid reference:	SK43753874
Location:	52°56’39"N, 1°21’1"W
Village:	Dale Abbey
Order:	Premonstratensian
History
Established:	15 August 1204
Founder:	William FitzRalph Matilda de Salicosa Mara Geoffrey de Salicosa Mara
Dissolved:	24 October 1538
Information
Condition:	Arch of church east window remains

Dale Abbey, also known as the Abbey of Stanley Park, was a religious house, close to Ilkeston in Derbyshire. Its ruins are located at the village of Dale Abbey, which is named after it.

The Abbey's foundation legend portrays it as developing from a hermitage, probably in the early 12th century. After several false starts, it was finally constituted as an abbey in 1204. It was affiliated to the Premonstratensians (also called Norbertines and White Canons), an order of canons regular in which it played, at times, a leading part among English Houses. It acquired a large number of small properties, concentrated in areas of the Midlands, developed a network of granges and appropriated a number of lucrative parish churches. Its discipline and reputation varied considerably, particularly in the 15th century, and it seems to have fallen away from the originally austerity.

By 1536, Dale Abbey's income was well below the threshold set for the Dissolution of Lesser Monasteries. Although there were accusations of grave immorality, the abbey was allowed to pay a fine to continue its existence until 1538.

The remains today are few. An arch for the east windowe strands proudly, with the footings of buildings about it. This is a Grade I listed building. A farmhouse incorporates part of the abbey church. The remains of a hermitage are found south-east of All Saints' Church.

Foundation legends

From the Premonstratensian point of view, Dale Abbey was founded in 1204 from Newsham Abbey in Lincolnshire. However, the chronicle of the abbey, which dates from the mid-13th century, gives a long and detailed prehistory. The author of the chronicle was Thomas de Muskham: the initial letters of the various sections of the foundation legend make up the name T. H. O. M. A. S. D. E. M. V. S. C. A. (Thomas did not trust in the detective work of later generations, but tells the reader explicitly that his name is in the capital letters of the text.) Muskham's chronicle places the origins of the abbey early in the previous century and credits the initiative not to a monastic order or member of the landowning class but to a local working man.

Baker to holy man

The hermit's cave south of Dale Abbey

Recess in west wall of the hermitage

Muskham attributes the first part of the foundation legend to Matilda de Salicosa Mara of Lindsey, a local landowner whom he regarded as foundress of the community at Dale. She recited the story in his presence early in the 13th century, when he had been a canon at Dale for about four years. Matilda's narrative begins with a baker of Derby, who spent his disposable income on food and clothes for the poor, and who he underwent a visionary experience which sent him to become a hermit in Deepdale. The hagiographic legend has the baker wandering, not knowing where ‘Deepdale’ named in his vision could be, until led by a herdsman’s daughter to Deepdale — "a marshy place, extremely frightening, and far from human habitation." Deepdale is about a mile and a half south east of Stanley, so about five miles from the hermit's former home in Derby: clearly it was damp pasture land at the time, watered by the Sow Brook, in the catchment of the River Erewash. At the south east edge of the place he cut out a small rock house in the hillside and settled to an ascetic existence.

The hermitage’s existence was discovered by the landowner, named as Ralph Fitz Geremund, during one of his visits: so impressed was Ralph by the hermit and the wretchedness of his existence that he granted him a tithe of the proceeds of his own mill at Burgh (now thought to be at Alvaston, although earlier at Borrowash). This was important to the chronicler, as the tithe of the mill was still a significant asset of Dale Abbey in his own day.

Another story recounted by Thomas Muskham tells of a famed man named Uthlagus (which appears to be a Latinised form of Old English utlaga, of 'outlaw', so presumably he was a notorious highway robber) who fell asleep one summer day on Lindridge, the hill to the west of the later abbey site, and had a dream in which the future glory of the place was revealed to him. He at once left his band and became a hermit at Deepdale.

Muskham's account of the origins of religious life at Deepdale is marked by free use of legend, although key features of his account were probably plausible to his readers. It was not improbable that the area was plagued by banditry during the Anarchy of Stephen's reign, when at least some of his account is possibly set. A number of important new monasteries and even monastic orders of the early 12th century were credited to the work of individual hermits. A close parallel is Arrouaise Abbey in northern France, which its historians portrayed as appearing in bandit country. The Deepdale foundation and the Arrouaisians alike were secured a role in the Church by assimilation into an order of canons regular following the Rule of St. Augustine.

Premonstratensians

All Saints' Church and Verger's House

The foundation legend told by the Order of Premonstratensians is rather different, involving a number of landed gentry trying to establish and consolidate a religious house at Deepdale. The chronicle focusses on Serlo de Grendon making a lifetime grant of Deepdale to his aunt, who installed her son, Richard, as chaplain, and later encouraged Serlo to grant Deepdale to the Augustinian community of Calke Priory. An Augustinian colony from Calke became established at Deepdale, comprising six canons in total. When the canons took to hunting in the forest, the king compelled them to leave because they were a threat to his game. Howard Colvin dates the Augustinian cell at Deepdale to the period between 1149 and 1158.

The next attempt to colonise Deepdale was made by a party of six canons from Tupholme Abbey in Lincolnshire, After seven years they were recalled, returning to Tupholme, except for Henry the Prior, who took house with a loose woman and had to be retrieved by force.

A further attempt to colonise Deepdale with Premonstratensian canons was organised by William de Grendon, who procured five monks from Welbeck Abbey in Nottinghamshire, believed to have been between 1194 and 1224. These canons too struggled with poverty and misfortune, culminating in the destruction of all their lamps which fell to the floor together while being hoisted before the altar. The abbot visited the embattled canons and found that they lacked even food and drink. He returned to Welbeck and then recalled the cell from Deepdale.

The successful establishment of a religious house at Deepdale came about almost by accident. William FitzRalph acquired a number of estates as to grant to his daughter as a dowry on her marriage to Geoffrey de Salicosa. One was the township of Stanley. However, Geoffrey and Matilda had been married for seven years without being blessed with children and so asked William to give Stanley to the Premonstratensians in order to found a house in Stanley Park. William's nephew, William de Grendon, donated in addition a site in Deepdale.

William FitzRalph left his daughter and her husband to work out the details of the new foundation, and they met Abbot Lambert of Newsham or Newhouse Abbey and secured from the chapter a delegation of nine canons to establish a colony at Deepdale.

The Cartulary of Dale Abbey, containing records of grants made to it over several centuries, runs to 172 folios. The great majority date from the 13th century, with a few from the preceding century and only two that are known to be later. Information about later acquisitions comes from other sources: letters patent, for example, give considerable detail about the acquisition of land and appropriation of churches from the 14th century.

Geoffrey de Salicosa and Matilda made considerable additional grants to Dale Abbey. Geoffrey gave all his lands in Sandiacre as well as the six bovates in Ockbrook he had obtained in exchange for his lands in Normandy. Matilda gave her manorial lordship of Alvaston, together with meadow and pasture there, to the abbey for the souls of herself, Geoffrey, her brother, Bishop Robert FitzRalph and other family members. If the couple hoped for a child in consideration of their gift, they were well-rewarded, as they went on to have two sons and two daughters.

Dissolution

The Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1535 valued Dale Abbey at £144 12s. About a fifth of the income was made up of revenues from churches in the final years. Heanor alone was bringing in £13 according to the accounts of the Court of Augmentations in 1540.

Sketch by William St John Hope: a reconstruction as Dale Abbey might have been in 1500

Dale Abbey and all its estates in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire were surrendered to William Cavendish, the commissioner for the Crown, on 24 October 1538. He brought masons and carpenters to unroof the buildings, thus rendering them useless for further occupation. The abbot and canons were each given a sum of money on their departure.

Francis Pole of Radbourne, Derbyshire took over the estates of Dale Abbey, though he and his dewcendents dispersed the holdings. By a process of marriage, inheritance and purchase, the manor was reunited in 1778 in the hands of Philip Stanhope, 2nd Earl Stanhope. Although the Stanhope family now owned the site and a considerable estates in the area, most of Francis Pole's original purchase had been dispersed among numerous landowners.

Pictures

• 
  Friars House.
• 
  Southern end of Abbey House.
• 
  External view of the chancel east window.
• 
  Internal view of the east window, showing moulding and other decoration.
• 
  South east part of the ruins, showing the outlines of the chancel and south chancel aisle, south transept in the foreground.
• 
  Base of a column that stood at the south east corner of the crossing, one of the four main supports for the central tower.
• 
  View of the east window from the interior. A small part of the return of the north chancel wall is visible on the left.
• 
  Remains of the stairs used by the canons to enter the abbey church for night worship.
• 
  Footings of south transept and base of a column. The shed in the background is the museum, on the site of the chapter house.
• 
  Parts of the roof vaulting of the chapter house.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Dale Abbey (monastery))