Abbotsbury Abbey

Abbotsbury Abbey, dedicated to Saint Peter, was a Benedictine monastery in the village of Abbotsbury in Dorset, England. 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 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.

Abbotsbury Abbey

Abbotsbury Abbey remains and the abbey barn
Location within Dorset
Monastery information
Order	Benedictines
Established	11th century
Disestablished	1539
Dedicated to	St Peter
Site
Location	Abbotsbury, England
Coordinates	50°39′52.1″N 2°35′55.4″W
Visible remains	tithe barn, parts of a building (possibly the abbot's house)
Public access	yes

Today, the abbey's remains, and those of the nearby St Catherine's Chapel, are in the guardianship of English Heritage.

Foundation

The abbey barn

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.[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 undertook the major Dissolution of the Monasteries. The final prior at Abbotsbury was Roger Roddon, who accepted a pension, and the Abbey was dissolved in 1539.[5]

Abbotsbury Abbey was ruined as a condition of its sale so that its stone could be reused. The Great Barn, which at 272 ft by 31 ft is the largest thatched tithe barn in the world,[6] and St Catherine's Chapel were spared, the latter used as a lookout across the sea. Both are Grade I listed buildings and scheduled monuments. The dissolution left the village impoverished.

Sir Giles Strangways[7] (died 1546), 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, 10s (equivalent to £1,290,000 in 2019).[8] Much of the land still belongs to Strangways' descendant, the Earl of Ilchester.

Heads of Abbotsbury

Incumbent	In office	Comments
Æsuuerdus	?	appears in 1075[9]
[ Roger, bishop of Salisbury ]	1107–1139	[9]
Geoffrey	1140	[9]
Roger	?	appears in 1129 x 1150.[9]
Geoffrey II	?	appears in 1166.[9]
vacant	1175, 1–8 July	[9]
Ralph?	?	[9]
Roger II	?	appears in 1201.[9]
Hugh	?	appears in 1204 x 1205.[9]
vacant	1213, 15 July	[9][10]
Hugh II	? – 1246?	[10]
Roger de Brideton	1246–1258?	[10]
Joan of Hilton (Helton)	1258–1284	[10]
Philip of Sherborne	1284–1296	[10]
[William of Kingston]		[10]
Benedict of Loders (Lodres)	1297–1320	[10]
Ralph of Sherborne	1320–1321	[10]
Peter of Sherborne	1321–1324	[10]
William le Fauconer	1324–1343	[10]
Walter de Saunford	1343–1348	[10]
Walter de Stokes	1348–1354	[10]
Henry (of) Toller (or Tolre)	1354–1376	[10]
William Cerne	1376–1401	[10]
Robert Bylsay	1401–1426	[11]
Richard Percy	1426–1442	resigned in 1442[11]
Edward Watton	1442–1452	[11]
William Wuller	1452–1468	[11]
Hugh Dorchester	1468–1496	[11]
John Abbotsbury	1496 (elected)	[11]
John Portesham	1505 (elected)	[11]
Roger Roddon	1534–1539	last abbot, surrendered.[11]

Henry VIII granted the abbey site to Sir Giles Strangways.[11]

Burials

• Humphrey Stafford (died 1413) and wife Elizabeth d'Aumale Mautravers Stafford
• Sir John Mautravers
• Humphrey Stafford (died 1442)

Notes

1. Keynes, "The lost cartulary of Abbotsbury", p. 207.
2. Keynes, "The lost cartulary of Abbotsbury", p. 208.
3. Keynes, "The lost cartulary of Abbotsbury", p. 209.
4. Dorothy Whitelock, English Historical Documents, no. 139.
5. David Knowles; David M. Smith; Christopher Nugent Lawrence Brooke (13 March 2008). The Heads of Religious Houses: England and Wales, III. 1377–1540. Cambridge University Press. pp. 11–2. ISBN 978-0-521-86508-1.
6. "Abbotsbury". jurassiccoast.org. 2012. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
7. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/dorset/vol2/pp48-53
8. UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
9. Knowles, Brooke and London (2001), The heads of religious houses: England & Wales, I. 940–1216, p. 23.
10. Smith and London (2001), The heads of religious houses: England & Wales, II. 1216–1377, pp. 15–6.
11. Page, ed. (1908), The Victoria history of the county of Dorset, pp. 48–53.

References

• Keynes, Simon (1989). "The Lost Cartulary of Abbotsbury". Anglo-Saxon England. 18: 207–43.
• Knowles, David; C. N. L. Brooke; Vera C. M. London, eds. (2001). The Heads of Religious Houses: England & Wales, I. 940–1216 (2nd ed.). Cambridge: CUP.
• Page, William, ed. (1908). The Victoria History of the County of Dorset. 2. London. Online: archive.org (PDF) and british-history.ac.uk (pp. 48–53)
• Pitt-Rivers, Michael (1968). Dorset. London: Faber & Faber.
• Smith, David M.; Vera C. M. London, eds. (2001). The Heads of Religious Houses: England & Wales, II. 1216–1377. Cambridge: CUP.

External links

• History of Abbotsbury
• Abbotsbury Abbey at English Heritage
• St Catherine's Chapel: English Heritage