April 961 A.D. Tavistock Abbey, Tavistock, Devon, UK—Founded by Ordgar, Earl of Devonshire & Benedictine Monks; Dissolved 1539; Mansion Built on Site, Now Called “Bedford Hotel
April 961 A.D. Tavistock Abbey, Tavistock, Devon, UK—Founded by Ordgar, Earl of Devonshire & Benedictine Monks; Dissolved 1539; Mansion Built on Site, Now Called “Bedford Hotel;” 33 Miles SW of Exeter, UK, about 1900 as the Crow Flies
Seal of Tavistock Abbey affixed to a lease of
1542, showing St Mary with the infant Jesus seated on her lap, with a mitred
abbot seated below, all surrounded by the legend: SIGILLUM ECCLESI(A)E
S(AN)C(TA)E MARI(A)E ET S(AN)C(T)I RUMONI TAVISTOCK ("seal of the Church
of Saint Mary and of Saint Rumon of Tavistock")
Tavistock
Abbey, also known as the Abbey of Saint Mary and Saint Rumon, is aruined Benedictine abbey in Tavistock, Devon. Nothing remains of the abbey except the
refectory, two gateways and a porch. The abbey church, dedicated to Our Lady and St Rumon, was destroyed by Danish raiders in 997 and rebuilt under Lyfing, the second abbot. The
church was further rebuilt in 1285 and the greater part of the abbey between
1457 and 1458.
Contents
History
Remains of the cloister arches
The abbey still house
Foundation
The abbey was founded in 961
by Ordgar, Ealdorman of Devon, and completed by his son Ordwulf[1] in 981, in which year the charter of confirmation
was granted by King Æthelred II (c.968-1016) The Unready, nephew of Ordwulf. It was endowed with lands in Devon, Dorset and Cornwall, and became one of the richest abbeys in the
west of England.
Account by Dugdale
William
Dugdale's Monasticon Anglicanum (1718 edition in English) states as follows
concerning the foundation:[2]
"In the reign of King Edgar an Earl call'd Ordulphus had a vision
commanding him to build an oratory in a certain place mark'd out to him,
which he did, making it large enough to contain 1,000 persons, and erecting
habitations for several monks, whom he also plac'd there under an abbat. The
lands he and his kindred and friends gave to this monastery were: Tavistock,
Midleton, Hatherlege (Hatherleigh), Berliton, Leghe,
Dunethem, Chuvelin, Lankinghorn, Home, Werelgete, Orlege (Orleigh), Auri (Annery), Rame, Savyock, Pannastan, Tomebiry, Colbrok, Lege, Wulsitheton, and
Clymesland. These never to be alienated and to be free from all impositions,
except an expedition undertaken and the repairing of forts and bridges. This
was confirmed in the year 981 and in the reign of King Ethelred...The Bull of
Pope Celestin dated 1193 confirms all donations made to these monks..."
1193 Papal Bull
A "Bull of Exemption
and Confirmation" dated 1193 granted by Pope
Celestine III(reigned
1191-1198) records the landholdings of the abbey thus:[3]
Later abbots
Abbot Lyfing and his
successor Abbot Ealdred both became Bishops of
Worcester, and the latter is said to
have crowned KingWilliam the Conqueror. The thirty-sixth abbot, John Dynynton, was granted leave in 1458 to use
various pontificalia and the mitre, which latter gave him a seat in Parliament.[4] The thirty-ninth abbot, Richard Banham or
Baynham,[5] was made a lord of
Parliament by King Henry VIII in 1513.
Dissolution
In 1538 the last abbot, John
Peryn, together with twenty monks, surrendered the abbey to the king,
receiving a pension of a hundred pounds. The abbey was the second wealthiest
in Devon at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536–1541), estimated at £902, only very
slightly behind the wealth of Plympton Abbey. Both were far wealthier than the next wealthiest, Buckfast Abbey, with an annual income of about £460.[6] In 1540 the Abbey and its lands were granted by
King Henry VIII to John Russell, 1st Baron Russell of Chenies in Buckinghamshire (created in 1550 1st Earl of Bedford).[7] The Russell family long maintained a close
connection with Tavistock, and in 1694 the family received the additional
titles ofMarquess of Tavistock and Duke of Bedford. They erected many 19th-century public buildings
and statues in the town at their own expense. Before 1810 the family had only
one formal residence in Devonshire, namely the townhouse of Bedford House in the City of Exeter. In 1810 John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford built to the designs of Sir Jeffry
Wyattville a new residence named Endsleigh Cottage at Milton Abbot, near
Tavistock, a former manor belonging to the Abbey. It was a large cottage ornée used as a summer holiday home, still standing but
sold in the 20th century by the Russell family.[8] It is now the Hotel Endsleigh, managed by Alex Polizzi and owned by her mother.[9]
Saint Rumon
St Rumon, also known as
Ruan, Ronan, and Ruadan, was probably a brother of St Tudwal of Tréguier, but nothing else is known of him beyond that he
was probably an Irish missionary and many churches in Devon and Cornwall in
England were named after him. Some authorities have identified him with St Ronan (1 June), venerated in Brittany, but others
believe that he and St Kea were British monks who founded a monastery at Street, Somerset.[citation needed] Feast day is 28 or 30 August (at Tavistock). The
translation of St Rumon is celebrated on 5 January.[10]
Cornwall
The abbey had considerable
land holdings in Cornwall and three churches there are dedicated to St Rumon: Ruan Lanihorne,Ruan Major and Ruan Minor. In Domesday Book the abbey held the manors of
Sheviock, Antony, Rame, Tregrenna, Penharget and Tolcarne, while four other
manors formerly theirs had been taken by Robert of
Mortain. Only Sheviock was in the
hands of the abbey while Ermenhald held five manors from it. Sheviock was
worth 60s per annum and the holdings of Ermenhald were worth in all £8-15s.
These were the same values as formerly suggesting the monks were good at
administering their estate.[11] These lands in the extreme south-east of Cornwall
were the reason for that district being part of Devon from the medieval
period until 1844.
In early times the Isles of Scilly were in the possession of a confederacy of
hermits. King Henry I gave the hermits' territory to the abbey of Tavistock,
which established a priory on Tresco that was abolished at the Reformation.[12]
Burials
See also
Notes
1. Jump up^ Thorn, Caroline & Frank, (eds.) Domesday Book,
(Morris, John, gen.ed.) Vol. 9, Devon, Parts 1 & 2, Phillimore Press,
Chichester, 1985, part 2 (notes), chapter 5
2. Jump up^ Dugdale, William, Monasticon Anglicanum, 1718 edition, pp.115-16, "Additions
made to the Benedictines" (i.e. addenda to his original work)[1]
3. Jump up^ Thorn, Caroline & Frank, (eds.) Domesday Book,
(Morris, John, gen.ed.) Vol. 9, Devon, Parts 1 & 2, Phillimore Press,
Chichester, 1985, Part 2 (notes), chapter 5
4. Jump up^ A mitred abbot could sit in Parliament among the Lords
and probably had the title Abbot-Sovereign
5. Jump up^ Richard Banham (1492 - 1523), the 39th Abbot, was more
likely to have been Richard Baynham who was granted arms in the time of Henry
VIII as follows: Gules a mace in bend sinister surmounted by a pastoral staff
in bend dexter or on a chief argent three pierced mullets of five points
sable (College of Arms Ms: 2G4/5b). Richard Baynham has been referred to as
Richard Banham in a number of places. He was created Baron Hurdwick in 1514
(another name for the Hundred of Tavistock) (Richard Nicholls Worth A History of
Devonshire:With Sketches of it Leading Worthies). See also -Oliver,
George (1820) Historic Collections Relating to the Monasteries in
Devon. Exeter: printed by R. Cullum.
6. Jump up^ Holdsworth, Christopher, Ecclesiastical Institutions,
published in Historical Atlas of South West England, Ed. Kain, R. &
Ravenhill W., Exeter, 1999, p.210
9. Jump up^ "Relative Values: Olga Polizzi and her daughter
Alexandra". Times Newspapers Limited (London: TimesOnline.co.uk). 6 July 2008. Retrieved 29 August 2009.
References
·
 This article incorporates text from a
publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Tavistock".Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. This article incorporates text from a publication
now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Tavistock Abbey". Catholic
Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.
Further reading
·
Victoria
County History: Devonshire;
·
Doble,
Gilbert H. (1939) Saint
Rumon and Saint Ronan; with
notes on the parishes of Ruan Lanihorne, Ruan Major, and Ruan Minor by
Charles Henderson. Long Compton : King's Stone Press
·
Kempe, A. J. (1830) Notices
of Tavistock and its Abbey; from the "Gentleman's Magazine" for
1830. London: J. B. Nichols (only 20 copies
printed)
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