Leiston Abbey
Encyclopedia
Leiston Abbey, in Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...

, 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...

, was formerly known as St Mary's Abbey. It was founded in 1182 at Minsmere
Minsmere
Minsmere is a hamlet on the Suffolk coast a couple of miles south of Dunwich, within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB.Ranulf de Glanvill built an abbey on the marshes here in the 12th century, but this was abandoned in favour of Leiston Abbey in 1363...

 by Ranulf de Glanville, Lord Chief Justice to Henry II
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...

. The only remains of the old site are the ruins of the Abbey chapel.

In 1363 the Abbey was transferred to Leiston
Leiston
Leiston is a town in eastern Suffolk, England. It is situated near Saxmundham and Aldeburgh, about from the North Sea coast and is northeast of Ipswich and northeast from London...

, and its patron, Robert de Ufford, 1st Earl of Suffolk, devoted his last years to the building.

Leiston Abbey ruins

The order of the Abbey was a House of Augustinian Canons Regular who followed the Premonstratensian
Premonstratensian
The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré, also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines, or in Britain and Ireland as the White Canons , are a Catholic religious order of canons regular founded at Prémontré near Laon in 1120 by Saint Norbert, who later became Archbishop of Magdeburg...

 rule. Unlike monks, their main duties were preaching and pastoral work.

Leiston Abbey grounds

Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries
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...

 in 1536, Leiston Abbey was granted to Charles Brandon, 3rd Duke of Suffolk
Charles Brandon, 3rd Duke of Suffolk
Charles Brandon, 3rd Duke of Suffolk , known as Lord Charles Brandon until shortly before his death, was the son of the 1st Duke of Suffolk and the suo jure 12th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby....

 and brother-in-law to Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...

. The Abbey became a farm, the farmhouse being built into the ruins. Later, a Georgian front was added to the house, which was extended in the 1920s.

In 1928 the Abbey ruins and farm was bought by Ellen Wrightson for use as a religious retreat. When she died in 1946, she bequeathed the house, ruins, land and buildings to the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...

. It was purchased in 1977 by the Pro Corda Trust and is managed by the Pro Corda Music School. It is in the guardianship of English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...

.

External Links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK