May 1180 A.D. Beeleigh Abbey, Maldon, Essex UK—Premonstratensian Canons Transferred from Neasham via Parmdon, 1180
Beeleigh Abbey
From Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia
Beeleigh Abbey house, incorporating remains of the
earlier monastery on the site
Beeleigh Abbey near Maldon in Essex, England, was a monastery constructed
in 1180 for the White Canons, otherwise known as the Norbertines or Premonstratensians.
The order linked the change of the separate life of monks in the 12th century with
the retrospective life of the friar, who was considerably more
active.
Contents
History
Beeleigh
Abbey was originally a daughter of Newham Abbey in Lincolnshire, established at
the instigation of Robert Mantell, lord of the manor of Little Maldon. The
abbey obtained a royal charter from Richard I in 1189.
The
heart of Saint Roger Niger of Beeleigh (a
thirteenth-century Bishop of London) was buried at Beeleigh and
the abbey became a pilgrimage site.[1] In 1289, pilgrims
included King Edward I and Queen Eleanor.
A plan of Beeleigh Abbey as it was in 1536. By permission
of Stephen P. Nunn from his book ‘St. Roger of Beeleigh’ 2001 ISBN 0 9511948 4 4
After
the dissolution of the monasteries, many of the abbey buildings
were pulled down. In 1540, Henry VIII granted the abbey and lands to Sir John Gate, Chancellor of the Duchy of
Lancaster. Thirty years after the land was given away there was an extension
added to the abbey of a farmhouse.
During
the 18th century, the building was used as a public house. By the late 19th century,
the buildings were in a ruinous condition, but in 1912, restoration was begun
by Captain F. W. Grantham. In 1945, the Abbey was purchased by William Foyle, owner of Foyles
bookshop.[2]
The
abbey is now a private residence and is not generally open to the public, but
small private groups can be shown around it by prior arrangement on specific
dates, through "Invitation to View". The roofs of the resilient
medieval buildings can be seen from a footpath that runs down market hill and
ends following the River Chelmer. The Abbey gardens, are now also open to the
public, on specific days during the summer months.
As
a point of interesting recent history, the Premonstratensians returned to Essex
in 2008, establishing a house at St. Philip's Priory in Chelmsford, some 8 miles from Beeleigh.
In 2010 the Prior of St Philips Priory and three of the canons, were welcomed
to Beeleigh Abbey, the first such visit by White Canons since the visit in 1955
by Father Norbert Backmund of Windberg Abbey in Bavaria. He was the first White
Canon to have visited Beeleigh since the monastic dissolution in 1536. In April
2011, the Abbot General, worldwide head of the Premonstratensian Order (White
Canons) in Rome, Father Thomas Handgraetinger, was welcomed at Beeleigh,
together with the Prior of Chelmsford, Father Hugh Allan, and three canons.
According
to local myths the abbey is connected by an underground tunnel to All Saints
Church in Maldon, the reason for its construction supposedly being that during
the dissolution of the monasteries the monks needed to be able to retreat to
the church if the abbey was razed. One story relates that this tunnel apparently
still existed some years ago and that its entrance was found by archaeologists.
Finding it too full of debris to explore it themselves a dog was sent in, and
some time later was heard barking in the depths of the abbey, and was found in
its cellar.
In
August 2000, following the death in 1999 of the previous incumbent, William
Foyle's daughter Christina Foyle, Christopher Foyle, chairman of Foyles
Bookshops, and from 1978 until 2006, chairman of the Air Foyle Group, his cargo
and passenger airline corporation, and his wife Catherine, purchased Beeleigh
Abbey and its 400-acre estate beside the river Chelmer from Christina Foyle's
executors. They then set about a four-year restoration of the Abbey and its
gardens, which had deteriorated somewhat during the previous 30 years. As a
result, in 2008, they were awarded, by the Royal Institution of Chartered
Surveyors, their East of England Conservation Award, and later in the same
year, their National Conservation Award, for the best restored historical building
in the UK.
Archaeology
In
2000, the owner arranged for an archaeological investigation of the site that
continued until 2006.[3] A geophysical survey was
followed by an excavation. During the course of the investigation there were a
number of "open days" which allowed hundreds of visitors to see the
site. Nothing could be dated to the 1180 construction, but among the
discoveries were the foundations of a medieval hall house, a brick clamp, and other
outbuildings. Other finds included large amounts of pottery dated from the 12th
to the 16th century, a small amount of early (13th - 16th century) coins,
some jetons and a seal matrixthat belonged to the Abbey.[citation needed]
Notes
External links
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