Revesby Abbey
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Revesby Abbey was a Cistercian monastery located near the village of Revesby in Lincolnshire, England. The abbey was founded in 1143 by William de Roumare, Earl of Lincoln. The first monks came to the abbey from the great Yorkshire house of Rievaulx Abbey. They were led by Ailred of Rievaulx, a former courtier who was to go on to become abbot of Rievaulx itself and a noted historian and theologian. He eventually became a saint.
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[edit] History
When the monks arrived there was a pre-existing village on the site. The population was moved and the village was demolished save for the church of St. Laurence, which the monks initially retained for their own use. Over the latter part of the twelfth century a stone monastery was constructed on the site. There was a large cruciform church with a nave of seven bays, an aisled presbytery and numerous chapels. South of this stood the domestic buildings, arranged around two cloisters. This core was surrounded by gardens, fishponds, orchards, barns, guesthouses, stables, a farmyard and industrial buildings. A wall protected the monastic grounds and entry was controlled by gatehouses.
Very little is known of the internal history of the abbey, which seems to have been uneventful. Revesby had been given a fairly substantial endowment and hence had a comfortable income. In the thirteenth century the house was fairly prosperous, however, in the fourteenth century the monks were hit hard by government exactions, unpaid debts from the king, animal plagues that killed all the stock and barreness of the abbey lands. In 1382 the abbey received an additional grant of property which may have gone some way towards allievating the situation, but it is likely that the decline (not helped by mismanagement) continued though the fifteenth century. It was noted before the Dissolution that the abbey buildings were already falling to ruin.
[edit] Dissolution
Despite this, in 1535 the abbey was valued in the Valor Ecclesiasticus as having an income of £287 (placing it among the middle ranks of its order) which meant that it escaped being dissolved under the terms of the First Suppression Act, King Henry VIII's initial move in the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The respite was to be brief. No records survive as to exactly how or when Revesby Abbey fell, but it is likely that Abbot John and his monks were compelled to give their house to the king in 1538. It is likely that the abbot and monks were given pensions, though again no records survive. The abbey site was granted to Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk and immediately fell to ruin.
[edit] The abbey today
Very little of the abbey is visible today, though archaeologists have investigated some parts of the site. Earthworks show where the abbey buildings lie buried and the site also has fishponds and moated enclosures that may be gardens. The remains are on farmland and are not open to the public.
[edit] Trivia
The first abbot, St. Ailred, is the patron saint of integrity. He has also been adopted by some gay and lesbian Christians.
[edit] Bibliography
- The Cistercian Abbeys of Britain, ed David Robinson, Batsford 1998
- A History of the County of Lincolnshire: Volume II, The Victoria County History 1906
