Abbotsbury Abbey
| Abbotsbury Abbey | |
|
Dorset | |
|---|---|
 Abbotsbury Abbey remains and the abbey barn | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SY577852 |
| Location: | 50°39’52"N, 2°35’55"W |
| Village: | Abbotsbury |
| Order: | Benedictines |
| History | |
| Established: | 11th century |
| Dedication: | St Peter |
| Disestablished: | 1538 |
| Information | |
| Condition: | A ruined building and a tithe barn |
| Owned by: | English Heritage |
| Website: | Abbotsbury Abbey Remains |
Abbotsbury Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in the village of Abbotsbury in Dorset, and which now lies in ruin: the remains of one building, possibly the Abbot's house, stand, and a tithe barn.
The abbey was founded in the 11th century by King Cnut's thegn Orc and his wife Tola, who handsomely endowed the monastery with lands in the area. The abbey, dedicated to St Peter, prospered and became a local centre of power, controlling eight manor houses and villages. During the later Middle Ages, the abbey suffered much misfortune. In the time of the dissolution of the monasteries, the last abbot surrendered the abbey and the site was given to Sir Giles Strangways.
Today, the abbey's remains, and those of the nearby St Catherine's Chapel, are in the guardianship of English Heritage.
Foundation
The first reference to the site of Abbotsbury may be in a charter of King Edmund (r. 939-946) recording a grant of five hides of land at Abbedesburi to the thegn Sigewulf.[1] The name (Abbedesburi) may suggest that the land had once belonged to an abbot.[1] During the reign of King Cnut (r. 1016–1035), the Scandinavian thegn Orc (also Urki, Urk) and his wife Tola took up residence in the area, having been granted land at Portesham.[2] Edward the Confessor (r. 1042-1066) also granted him Wootton and it was early in his reign that the couple founded a monastery at Abbotsbury, previously the site of a minor church.[2] Orc and Tola, who had no children, enriched the monastery with a substantial amount of land,[2] some of which was bequeathed after their deaths. By the time of the Domesday survey, Abbotsbury (itself worth 21 hides) was recorded to have held more than 65 hides of land TRE ('in King Edward's time').[3] Orc also established his own guild, which according to the extant statutes, had its hall at Abbotsbury and protected the minster's interests.[2][4]
14th-17th century
During the 14th century the Black Death killed many villagers and the abbot, and the village was repeatedly attacked from the sea, reducing the power of the abbey. In 1538 Henry VIII dissolved the Monasteries and Abbotsbury Abbey was ruined as a condition of its sale so that its stone could be reused. The Great Barn, which at 272 feet by 31 feet is the largest thatched tithe barn in the world,[5] and St Catherine's Chapel were spared, the latter used as a lookout across the sea. Both are Grade I listed buildings and Scheduled Ancient Monuments. The dissolution left the village impoverished.
Sir Giles Strangways, the commissioner who had dissolved Abbotsbury, bought the abbey buildings, manor houses, water mills and Abbotsbury Swannery and much of the abbey's land for £1,906, 10 s. Much of the land still belongs to Strangways' descendant, the Earl of Ilchester.
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Abbotsbury Abbey) |
- History of Abbotsbury
- Abbotsbury Abbey Remains – English Heritage
- Abbotsbury St Catherine's Chapel – English Heritage
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Keynes, "The lost cartulary of Abbotsbury", p. 207.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Keynes, "The lost cartulary of Abbotsbury", p. 208.
- ↑ Keynes, "The lost cartulary of Abbotsbury", p. 209.
- ↑ Dorothy Whitelock, English Historical Documents, no. 139.
- ↑ "Abbotsbury". jurassiccoast.org. 2012. http://jurassiccoast.org/visiting-the-coast/gateway-towns/445-abbotsbury. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
- Keynes, Simon (1989). "The Lost Cartulary of Abbotsbury". Anglo-Saxon England 18: 207–43.
- Knowles, David; C. N. L. Brooke; Vera C. M. London, ed (2001). The Heads of Religious Houses: England & Wales, I. 940–1216 (2nd ed.). Cambridge: CUP.
- A History of the County of Dorset - Volume : {{{2}}} (Victoria County History) ([http://www.archive.org/details/victoriahistoryo02page (PDF)}
- [1]
- Pitt-Rivers, Michael (1968). Dorset. London: Faber & Faber.
- Smith, David M., and Vera C. M. London, ed (2001). The Heads of Religious Houses: England & Wales, II. 1216–1377. Cambridge: CUP.