Combermere Abbey
Encyclopedia
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
in Combermere Park, between Nantwich
Nantwich
Nantwich is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The town gives its name to the parliamentary constituency of Crewe and Nantwich...
and Whitchurch
Whitchurch, Shropshire
Whitchurch is a market town in Shropshire, England on the border between England and Wales. It is the oldest continuously inhabited town in Shropshire. According to the 2001 Census, the population of the town is 8,673, with a more recent estimate putting the population of the town at 8,934...
in Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, 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...
, near the border with Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
.
Topomony
The name means 'lake of the Cymry', or Welsh, and refers to a enclave of Britons surviving the Anglo-Saxon conquest of the area.
History
The original abbeyAbbey
An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...
was Cistercian; founded circa 1133 by Hugh de Malbank, it was endowed with 22,000 acres (89 km²) including part of Nantwich
Nantwich
Nantwich is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The town gives its name to the parliamentary constituency of Crewe and Nantwich...
as well as the church at Acton
Acton, Cheshire
Acton is a small village and civil parish lying immediately west of the town of Nantwich in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of...
. After the dissolution
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
of the abbey in July 1538, the abbey church and various other buildings were demolished, leaving only the Abbot
Abbot
The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...
's House. The estate was given to Sir George Cotton, in whose family it remained until 1919.
The house was altered and extended between 1814 and 1820 by the diplomat and military leader Sir Stapleton Cotton
Stapleton Cotton, 1st Viscount Combermere
Field Marshal Stapleton Cotton, 1st Viscount Combermere GCB, GCH, KSI, PC , was a British military leader, diplomat and politician...
(later 1st Viscount Combermere
Viscount Combermere
Viscount Combermere, of Bhurtpore in the East Indies and of Combermere in the County Palatine of Chester, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1827 for the prominent military commander Stapleton Stapleton-Cotton, 1st Baron Combermere...
), including cement
Cement
In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...
facing and Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
ornamentation of the main house, and the construction of Wellington's Wing to mark Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
's visit to the house in 1820. In 1891, Sybell Corbett took a photograph in the library at Combermere Abbey which became famous as "Lord Combermere's Ghost Photo", said to be showing the ghost of the 2nd Viscount Combermere
Wellington Stapleton-Cotton, 2nd Viscount Combermere
Colonel Wellington Henry Stapleton-Cotton, 2nd Viscount Combermere was a British soldier and Conservative politician.-Background:...
sitting in a chair. Combermere Abbey changed hands in 1919, and maintenance problems eventually led to the demolition of parts of the house, including Wellington's Wing, in 1972.
Description
The Abbot's House, a timber-framed building with a hammerbeam roof, dates from around 1500 and is the oldest surviving building. Near the abbey are various outbuildings, including a game larder (grade II* listed), icehouse and clock tower. The stable block, constructed in 1837, has been converted into eleven holiday cottages. However, attempts to gain planning permission to build a village of a hundred houses on 14 acres (56,656 m²) of estate land, with the stated aim of funding restoration of the abbey, were turned down in 2005.
Obelisk
An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...
(dated 1890) commemorating the 1st Viscount Combermere
Stapleton Cotton, 1st Viscount Combermere
Field Marshal Stapleton Cotton, 1st Viscount Combermere GCB, GCH, KSI, PC , was a British military leader, diplomat and politician...
stands at on a rise at the edge of Combermere Park.
Comber Mere
The park includes the large natural lake of Comber Mere, designated a Site of Special Scientific InterestSite of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
for its swamp
Swamp
A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
and fen
Fen
A fen is a type of wetland fed by mineral-rich surface water or groundwater. Fens are characterised by their water chemistry, which is neutral or alkaline, with relatively high dissolved mineral levels but few other plant nutrients...
environments, as well as its importance for birds. The mere is an important overwintering ground for wildfowl, and also has one of the largest heronries
Heron
The herons are long-legged freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae. There are 64 recognised species in this family. Some are called "egrets" or "bitterns" instead of "heron"....
in Cheshire and Shropshire. The National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens
National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens
In England, the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England provides a listing and classification system for historic parks and gardens similar to that used for listed buildings. The register is managed by English Heritage under the provisions of the National...
lists 200 hectares of the park at Grade II.