Newsham Abbey
| Newsham Abbey | |
|
Lincolnshire | |
|---|---|
 Pond near site of Newsham Abbey | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TA127133 |
| Location: | 53°36’15"N, 0°17’53"W |
| Order: | Premonstratensian |
| History | |
| Established: | 1143 |
| Founder: | Peter of Gousla |
| Dissolved: | 1536 |
| Information | |
| Condition: | Vanished |
Newsham Abbey was an abbey in Newsham, a small hamlet north of Brocklesby village in Lincolnshire, and one of nine within the county.
Th abbey was founded by Peter of Gousla in 1143 as the Abbey of St Mary and St Martial at Newsham (or Newhouse). It was a daughter house of the Abbey of Licques, near Calais, and was the first Premonstratensian house established in England.
Foundation
The abbey was founded by Peter of Gousla, who held in Newsham one knight's fee of Ralf de Bayeux, with the consent of his lord. It was populated with a colony from Liegues Abbey, near Calais, France, then under the rule of Abbot Henry. On their arrival in England the White Canons were hospitably received by William, Earl of Lincoln, who confirmed the donations made to Gelro, the first Abbot of Newhouse, by Peter of Goxhill, by Ralph de Halton, and Geoffrey de Tours. William de Romara, earl of Lincoln, and Elias d'Albini were also benefactors of the monastery.[1]
Bishop Alexander of Lincoln and his successor, Robert de Chesney, issued confirmation charters and took the new monastery into their protection.[2]
Itself a daughter house of the abbey of Lisques, Newhouse and was parent of eleven others, including Barlings, Tupholme, and Newbo.[1]
In 1385 the canons complained of poverty and heavy burdens of hospitality, and recent storms had almost reduced the monastic buildings to ruins.
In 1472 the abbot was censured for not providing an abbot for the daughterhouse of Alnwick.[3]
The names of twenty-six abbots of Newsham are known, the last being Thomas Harpham, who was abbot from 1534 to the suppression of the abbey by King Henry VIII.
Spread of the Order
Beyond Lincolnshire, Newhouse had an important role, in time becoming the mother-house of eleven of the Premonstratensian houses throughout England. Between 1147 and 1200 some 100 canons left Newsham to colonise new houses in England. The following list gives in alphabetical order the names and dates of foundations of the Premonstratensian (Norbertine) abbeys, made from the Abbey of Newhouse and existing in England at the time of the Reformation:[3]
- Alnwick Abbey, Northumberland, this was the first foundation made from Newhouse (1147);
- Barlings Abbey, near Lincoln (1154);
- Beeleigh Abbey (Bileigh Abbey, once Maldon Abbey), near Maldon, Essex (1180);
- Coverham Abbey, North Yorkshire (originally established at Swainby, 1190);
- Croxton Abbey, near Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire (1163);
- Dale (Stanley Park) Abbey, Derbyshire (1204);
- Easby Abbey (Abbey of St Agatha) at Easby, near Richmond, Yorkshire (1152);
- Newbo Abbey, near Sedgebrook, Lincolnshire (1198);
- Sulby Abbey, Northamptonshire (originally established at Welford) (1155).
Suppression
The abbey was suppressed in 1536, and the site was incorporated into a landscape park by Capability Brown during the 18th century. Parts of the abbey including the precinct boundary are visible as earthworks, and there is a heavy scatter of building material, and grassed-over foundations.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Geudens: 'A Sketch of the Premonstratensian Order and its houses in Great Britain and Ireland' (1878)
- ↑ Dalton, Paul (2000). "Churchmen and the Promotion of Peace in King Stephen's Reign". Viator. 31: 79–119. doi:10.1484/J.VIATOR.2.300762
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 A History of the County of Lincoln - Volume 2 pp 199-202: Houses of Premonstratensian canons: The abbey of Newhouse or Newsham (Victoria County History)
- William Dugdale, Monasticon Anglicanum, VI
- Collectanea Anglo-Præmonst, in Redmen, Register, ed. Francis Aidan Gasquet (Royal Historical Society, 3rd series, VI, X, XII)
- Hugo: 'Annales Præmonstratenses' (1734)