Wigmore Abbey

Wigmore Abbey was an Augustinian abbey with a grange, from 1179 to 1530, situated about a mile (2 km) north of the village of Wigmore, Herefordshire, England: grid reference SO 410713. Only ruins of the abbey now remain and on Historic England's Heritage at Risk Register their condition is listed as 'very bad'.[1]

Wigmore Abbey Parish is a parish with nine village churches in northwest Herefordshire.

Remains of Wigmore Abbey.

History of the abbey

The founding of the abbey was contemplated by Ranulph de Mortimer in the reign of Henry I, but only brought to fruition by his son, Hugh de Mortimer, who had the abbey consecrated at Wigmore in 1179 in the parish of Leintwardine by Robert Foliot, the Bishop of Hereford. The construction of the abbey was also assisted by other local landowners, especially Brian de Brampton and his John, who contributed building materials from their woods and quarries. The abbey community had been some thirty years in moving through various sites in northern Herefordshire before this final consecration. In this it was one of the most moved foundations in the country, having been settled during these years occasionally at Shobdon, Llanthony Priory and Lye or Eye as it has been written.

At the time it has been suggested that this was the largest monastery in the county, followed by Abbey Dore and Leominster Priory.

The first abbot was Simon Merlymond. Andrew of St Victor (c. 1100–1175) was abbot from 1148–1155 and 1162–1175.[2]

The abbey church, like the church at Wigmore, was dedicated to St James. As they were the principal patrons of the abbey, many members of the Mortimer family were buried there, among them five Earls of March.

The abbey continued to flourish until the period of the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1530, when it was destroyed. The remains of the building were given to Sir T. Palmer.

Wigmore Abbey is thought to be the place of origin of a manuscript outlining its own history and founding, as well as the lineage of Roger Mortimer, whose father Edmund petitioned Parliament (successfully) to be named heir to the throne in 1374. His claim was superseded by King Henry IV's accession to the throne. The manuscript concerning the Mortimers and the foundation of Wigmore Abbey is now housed at the University of Chicago. Another chronicle has been lost, but copies of the beginning and the end of this have survived in Manchester and Dublin.

Burials

Recent history of the remains

The land encompassing the abbey remains was owned by the Powell family, and later by the Brierley family, before the ruins themselves were sold to British actor John Challis (best known as Boycie from Only Fools and Horses), while the fields and remaining buildings were bought by farmers.

As of 2002, the ruins of the abbey were the property of John Challis, who lived in the abbot's lodging, the only building to survive. The TV programme The Green Green Grass starring John Challis was filmed at Wigmore Abbey along with other locations in the area.

gollark: Unless they have a warrant, you can apparently just tell them to go away and they can't do anything except try and get one based on seeing TV through your windows or something.
gollark: But the enforcement of it is even weirder than that:- there are "TV detector vans". The BBC refuses to explain how they actually work in much detail. With modern TVs I don't think this is actually possible, and they probably can't detect iPlayer use, unless you're stupid enough to sign up with your postcode (they started requiring accounts some years ago).- enforcement is apparently done by some organization with almost no actual legal power (they can visit you and complain, but not *do* anything without a search warrant, which is hard to get)- so they make up for it by sending threatening and misleading letters to try and get people to pay money
gollark: - it funds the BBC, but you have to pay it if you watch *any* live TV, or watch BBC content online- it's per property, not per person, so if you have a license, and go somewhere without a license, and watch TV on some of your stuff, you are breaking the law (unless your thing is running entirely on battery power and not mains-connected?)- it costs about twice as much as online subscription service things- there are still black and white licenses which cost a third of the price
gollark: Very unrelated to anything, but I recently read about how TV licensing works in the UK and it's extremely weird.
gollark: "I support an increase in good things and a reduction in bad things"

References
  1. Heritage at Risk Register 2018, West Midlands (Report). Historic England. p. 1. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  2. Schroeder, Joy A. (2015). The Book of Genesis. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. p. 24. ISBN 9780802868459.
  • Remfry, P.M., The Mortimers of Wigmore, 1066 to 1181. Part 1: Wigmore Castle (ISBN 1-899376-14-3)
  • Remfry, P.M., The Wigmore Chronicle, 1066 to 1377:A Translation of John Rylands Manuscript 215 and Trinity College, Dublin, MS.488, ff. 295-9 (ISBN 1-899376-89-5)
  • Heritage at Risk Register: Wigmore+Abbey
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