Bindon Abbey
Encyclopedia
Bindon Abbey was a Cistercian monastery, of which only ruins remain, on the River Frome
about half a mile east of Wool
in the Purbeck District, Dorset
, England
.
on the coast near Lulworth Cove
as a daughter house of Forde Abbey
, but the terrain proved too demanding to sustain the community. In 1172 the monastery moved to a site near Wool, the gift of Roger de Newburgh and his wife, Matilda de Glastonia - the granddaughter of the original founder, who also endowed it with further estates in the county. The monastery retained the name of its original location.
The abbey had the support of the Plantagenet kings, and Henry III
granted several letters of protection.
From the 14th century the abbey suffered from a number of internal and economic difficulties which seriously reduced its income and wealth. In the Valor Ecclesiasticus
of 1535 its annual income was valued at £147. It was scheduled for dissolution in 1536, but John Norman, the then abbot, paid the Crown the enormous sum of £300 to save it. The abbey was nevertheless suppressed in 1539.
The site was granted to Thomas Poynings, Baron Poynings
, from whom it passed to Thomas Howard, Viscount Howard of Bindon
. It was bought in 1641 by the Weld family
, later prominent as Roman Catholics, the present landowners.
In 1559 Thomas Howard built a country house on the site of the monastery, but this was burnt down during the English Civil War
, although the outline of Howard's gardens, with their moated water features, can still be seen. The Welds reused the stone for the construction of the nearby Lulworth Castle
.
.
Access to the ruins is by permission of the Weld Estate.
Between 1794 and 1798 a small "Gothick" house, Bindon Abbey House, was built on part of the former abbey grounds. This and a contemporaneous gatehouse are still in existence. Bindon Abbey House is now used by Downside Abbey
as a retreat house.
The mill on the River Frome - Bindon Mill - to the north of the ruins would originally have been part of the monastery. It was converted into a residence between 2006 and 2009.
's Tess of the Durbervilles.
River Frome, Dorset
The River Frome is a river in Dorset in the south of England. At 30 miles long it is the major chalkstream in southwest England. It is navigable upstream from Poole Harbour as far as the town of Wareham.-Geography:...
about half a mile east of Wool
Wool, Dorset
Wool is a village in the Purbeck district of Dorset, England. The village has a population of 4,118 , though the population has fluctuated over the past 15 years, due to the proximity of military institutions, reaching a high of 4,300 in 1992. The village lies at a historic bridging point on the...
in the Purbeck District, Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
History
The monastery was founded in 1149 by William de Glastonia on the site since known as Little Bindon near Bindon HillBindon Hill
Bindon Hill is an extensive Iron Age earthwork enclosing a coastal hill area near Lulworth Cove in Dorset, England.- Location :The Hill is located about 19 kilometres west of Swanage, about six kilometres south west of Wareham and about 17 kilometres south east of Dorchester.Bindon Hill is only...
on the coast near Lulworth Cove
Lulworth Cove
Lulworth Cove is a cove near the village of West Lulworth, on the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site in Dorset, southern England. The cove is one of the world's finest examples of such a landform, and is a tourist location with over 1 million visitors a year...
as a daughter house of Forde Abbey
Forde Abbey
Forde Abbey is a privately owned former Cistercian monastery in Dorset, England. The house and gardens are run as a tourist attraction while the estate is farmed to provide additional revenue...
, but the terrain proved too demanding to sustain the community. In 1172 the monastery moved to a site near Wool, the gift of Roger de Newburgh and his wife, Matilda de Glastonia - the granddaughter of the original founder, who also endowed it with further estates in the county. The monastery retained the name of its original location.
The abbey had the support of the Plantagenet kings, and Henry III
Henry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
granted several letters of protection.
From the 14th century the abbey suffered from a number of internal and economic difficulties which seriously reduced its income and wealth. In the Valor Ecclesiasticus
Valor Ecclesiasticus
The Valor Ecclesiasticus was a survey of the finances of the church in England, Wales and English controlled parts of Ireland made in 1535 on the orders of Henry VIII....
of 1535 its annual income was valued at £147. It was scheduled for dissolution in 1536, but John Norman, the then abbot, paid the Crown the enormous sum of £300 to save it. The abbey was nevertheless suppressed in 1539.
The site was granted to Thomas Poynings, Baron Poynings
Thomas Poynings, Baron Poynings
Thomas Poynings, 1st Baron Poynings was an English soldier and courtier.He was one of the three illegitimate sons of Sir Edward Poynings of Westenhanger, Kent, England...
, from whom it passed to Thomas Howard, Viscount Howard of Bindon
Thomas Howard, 1st Viscount Howard of Bindon
Thomas Howard, 1st Viscount Howard of Bindon , was an English peer and politician. He was the youngest son of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk and Lady Elizabeth Stafford. He served as Custos Rotulorum of Dorset and Vice-Admiral of Dorset. In 1559 he was raised to the peerage as Viscount Howard...
. It was bought in 1641 by the Weld family
Weld-Blundell family
The Weld family, which became in its main branch the Weld-Blundell family, is an old English family that claims descent from Eadric the Wild and has branches in several parts of England and America. The main branch are descended from Humphrey Weld, Lord Mayor of London, whose grandson of the same...
, later prominent as Roman Catholics, the present landowners.
In 1559 Thomas Howard built a country house on the site of the monastery, but this was burnt down during the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, although the outline of Howard's gardens, with their moated water features, can still be seen. The Welds reused the stone for the construction of the nearby Lulworth Castle
Lulworth Castle
Lulworth Castle, in East Lulworth, Dorset, situated south of Wool, is an early 17th century mock castle. The stone building has now been re-built as a museum....
.
Buildings and site
The foundations of the monastery and the surviving walls show that it followed the standard Cistercian layout of a cruciform church with a nave and two side aisles and a straight east end, with two chapels off each arm of the transept; the conventual buildings lay to the south of the church. Most of the construction seems to have taken place around the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries; although later records refer to royal gifts of timber for rebuilding works, these are no longer in evidence. In the chapter-house in the east range the recessed shafts of the columns that supported the ceiling vaulting are still to be seen. Little remains of the south range with the kitchen and refectoryRefectory
A refectory is a dining room, especially in monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminaries...
.
Access to the ruins is by permission of the Weld Estate.
Between 1794 and 1798 a small "Gothick" house, Bindon Abbey House, was built on part of the former abbey grounds. This and a contemporaneous gatehouse are still in existence. Bindon Abbey House is now used by Downside Abbey
Downside Abbey
The Basilica of St Gregory the Great at Downside, commonly known as Downside Abbey, is a Roman Catholic Benedictine monastery and the Senior House of the English Benedictine Congregation. One of its main apostolates is a school for children aged nine to eighteen...
as a retreat house.
The mill on the River Frome - Bindon Mill - to the north of the ruins would originally have been part of the monastery. It was converted into a residence between 2006 and 2009.
Literary references
The abbey ruins, and especially the former grave of one of the abbots, which may still be seen, feature in Thomas HardyThomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
's Tess of the Durbervilles.
Sources
- Calthrop, M. M. C., 1908: The Abbey of Bindon. In: The Victoria History of the County of Dorset, ed. William Page, Vol. 2, pp. 82 – 90. London: Constable. Text available from: British History Online. ISBN 019722718X
- Dru Drury, G., 1932-33: The Bindon Abbey Charter of A.D. 1313. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, Vol. LIV, pp. 35 – 73; Vol. LV, pp. 20 – 25
- Dru Drury, G., 1933: The Abbots of Bindon. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, Vol. LV, pp. 1 – 19.
- Fergusson, Peter, 1984: Architecture of Solitude: Cistercian Abbeys in Twelfth-Century England, pp. 112 – 113. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691040249
- Hutchins, John, 1861: The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset, 3rd ed., ed. W. Shipp and J. W. Hodson, Vol. 1, pp. 349 – 360. Westminster: J. B. Nichols
- Moule, H. J., 1885: Bindon Abbey and Woolbridge. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club, Vol. VII, pp. 54 – 65
- Mowl, Timothy, 2003: Historic Gardens of Dorset. Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0752425358
- New, Anthony, 1985: A Guide to the Abbeys of England and Wales, pp. 67 – 69. Constable & Company. ISBN 0-09-463520-X
- Newman, John and Nikolaus Pevsner, 1972: The Buildings of England: Dorset, pp. 93 – 94. Harmondsworth: Penguin. ISBN 0140710442
- Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, 1970: An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Vol. 2, South-East, pp. 404 – 408, plates 201 - 204. London: HMSO. ISBN 011700457X