Monastery information | |
---|---|
Full name | Abbey Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Old Warden |
Other names | Warden Abbey |
Order | Cistercian |
Established | 1135 |
Disestablished | 1537 |
Site | |
Location | Old Warden, Bedfordshire, England |
Coordinates | 52°04′53″N0°21′48″W / 52.081389°N 0.363333°W Coordinates: 52°04′53″N0°21′48″W / 52.081389°N 0.363333°W |
Wardon or Warden Abbey, Bedfordshire, was one of the senior Cistercian houses of England, founded about 1135 from Rievaulx Abbey. [1] [2] It is a Grade I listed building.
The patron was Walter Espec, who had founded the mother house and settled the new community on one of his inherited estates, on unprofitable wasteland, as its early name, St Mary de Sartis, implied, [3] just the kind of remote, uninhabited sites specified by the founders of the Cistercian order. The first abbot, Simon, was a pupil of Aelred, Abbot of Rievaulx. The success of the abbey may be inferred from the foundation of a daughter house, Sibton Abbey, Suffolk, as soon as 1150. [4] The village of Old Warden, Bedfordshire grew up under the Abbey's protection. Great accumulated Cistercian wealth enabled Wardon Abbey to be rebuilt on a grand scale in the early fourteenth century, with complex tiling in carpet-patterns and pictorial vignettes pieced together in shaped tiles that approached a boldly scaled mosaic. [5] Gilding of the carved details was so lavishly laid on that in 1848, after demolition and burial, recovered fragments retained their brightness. [6] By 1252 the monks had more land under cultivation than they could work by their own labour in the early Cistercian way: nineteen granges were recorded in that year. From the orchards at Wardon came the Warden pear, rated the best of English pears, and so distinctive that a pie made from them was a "wardon pie": "I must have Saffron to colour the Warden Pies" (Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale iv.3). In Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books, edited by Thomas Austin for the Early English Text Society (Original Series, Volume 91), a recipe is given (p. 51) for "Quyncis or Wardouns in past".
The later fourteenth century was a period of retrenchment and decline, in the wake of the Black Death. Wardon Abbey was dissolved in 1537 under Henry VIII, and the estate was sold for £389 16s 6d. The new owner demolished most of the buildings in 1552 to sell the materials, and then built a new red brick mansion, bearing the name Warden Abbey House. Later in 1790, most of this Tudor house was pulled down by its owners, the Whitbreads of nearby Southill, [7] leaving only a north-east wing, which still stands today. The Landmark Trust rescued the building from dereliction in 1974 and renovated it in exchange for a long lease; it can now be rented for holidays. [8]
The Cistercians, officially the Order of Cistercians, are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contributions of the highly-influential Bernard of Clairvaux, known as the Latin Rule. They are also known as Bernardines, after Saint Bernard himself, or as White Monks, in reference to the colour of the "cuculla" or cowl worn by the Cistercians over their habits, as opposed to the black cowl worn by Benedictines.
Fountains Abbey is one of the largest and best preserved ruined Cistercian monasteries in England. It is located approximately 3 miles (5 km) south-west of Ripon in North Yorkshire, near to the village of Aldfield. Founded in 1132, the abbey operated for 407 years, becoming one of the wealthiest monasteries in England until its dissolution, by order of Henry VIII, in 1539.
Byland Abbey is a ruined abbey and a small village in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England, in the North York Moors National Park.
Rievaulx Abbeyree-VOH was a Cistercian abbey in Rievaulx, near Helmsley, in the North York Moors National Park, North Yorkshire, England. It was one of the great abbeys in England until it was seized in 1538 under Henry VIII during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The wider site was awarded Scheduled Ancient Monument status in 1915 and the abbey was brought into the care of the then Ministry of Works in 1917. The striking ruins of its main buildings are today a tourist attraction, owned and maintained by English Heritage.
Old Warden is a village and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of the county of Bedfordshire, England, about 6.5 miles (10 km) south-east of the county town of Bedford.
Waltheof was a 12th-century English abbot and saint. He was the son of Simon I of St Liz, 1st Earl of Northampton and Maud, 2nd Countess of Huntingdon, thus stepson to David I of Scotland, and the grandson of Waltheof, Earl of Northampton.
St Mary's Abbey, Melrose is a partly ruined monastery of the Cistercian order in Melrose, Roxburghshire, in the Scottish Borders. It was founded in 1136 by Cistercian monks at the request of King David I of Scotland and was the chief house of that order in the country until the Reformation. It was headed by the abbot or commendator of Melrose. Today the abbey is maintained by Historic Environment Scotland as a scheduled monument.
The Abbot and then Commendator of Melrose was the head of the monastic community of Melrose Abbey, in Melrose in the Borders region of Scotland. The abbots of the earlier Northumbrian foundation from Lindisfarne are not included here. The second abbey was founded in 1136 on the patronage of David I, King of Scots, by Cistercian monks from Rievaulx Abbey, Yorkshire. Control of the abbey was secularized in the 16th century and after the accession of James Stewart, the abbey was held by commendators. The last commendator, James Douglas of Lochleven, resigned the abbacy to William Douglas, 6th Earl of Morton in December 1606, and the abbey itself to the king in 1608. The abbey was then erected into a secular lordship for viscount Haddington, John Ramsay, who in 1609 was created "Lord Melrose". Lochleven however resumed the title of commendator in 1613 until his death in 1620.
Cleeve Abbey is a medieval monastery located near the village of Washford, in Somerset, England. It is a Grade I listed building and has been scheduled as an ancient monument.
Newbattle Abbey was a Cistercian monastery near the village of Newbattle in Midlothian, Scotland, which subsequently become a stately home and then an educational institution.
The Abbey of Strata Marcella was a medieval Cistercian monastery situated at Ystrad Marchell on the west bank of the River Severn near Welshpool, Powys, Wales.
Walter Espec was a prominent military and judicial figure of the reign of Henry I of England.
Stratford Langthorne Abbey, or the Abbey of St Mary's, Stratford Langthorne was a Cistercian monastery founded in 1135 at Stratford Langthorne — then Essex but now Stratford in the London Borough of Newham. The Abbey, also known as West Ham Abbey as it lay in that parish, was one of the largest Cistercian abbeys in England, possessing 1,500 acres (6.07 km2) of local land, controlling over 20 manors throughout Essex. The Abbey was self-sufficient for its needs and wealthy besides; some of this wealth came from the ecclesiastic mills grinding wheat for local bakers to supply bread to the City of London. This later led to competition with the Guild of Bakers, who sought powers to levy a toll on loaves entering the City at Whitechapel.
The black Worcester pear is a cultivar of the European pear, it may have come to the UK via the Romans, but also has been used in heraldry and around the city of Worcester. The dark fruit is mainly used for cooking or culinary uses.
Sibton Abbey, an early Cistercian abbey located near Yoxford, Suffolk, was founded about 1150 by William de Chesney, High Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk. A sister house of Warden Abbey, near Bedford, Bedfordshire, Sibton Abbey was the only Cistercian abbey in East Anglia. It was dissolved in 1536.
Warden is the title of various officials.
Sawtry Abbey was a Cistercian abbey located between Sawtry and Woodwalton in Cambridgeshire, England. The abbey was founded in 1147 by Simon II de Senlis, Earl of Northampton, who was the grandson of Earl Waltheof and Judith, the niece of William the Conqueror who held the manor when the Domesday Survey was compiled. It is the only Cistercian abbey in the county.
The Abbey Church of St Leonard of Old Warden is a Grade I listed church in Old Warden, Bedfordshire, England. It became a listed building on 31 October 1966.
William de Chesney was a medieval Anglo-Norman nobleman and sheriff. The son of a landholder in Norfolk, William inherited after the death of his two elder brothers. He was the founder of Sibton Abbey, as well as a benefactor of other monasteries in England. In 1157, Chesney acquired the honour of Blythburgh, and was sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk during the 1150s and 1160s. On Chesney's death in 1174, he left three unmarried daughters as his heirs.