Tintern Abbey - The amazing ruins.

Monday dawned foggy. For a while we were undecided as to where to go, as the fog was slow to clear. As the weather looked to be improving, we decided to visit Tintern Abbey, a place we had promised ourselves for a long time.

Roads were narrow, and mostly single track, until we reached the A466 where it became a normal width. When we parked we were almost the only people on the site.

The place is stunning in its size and surroundings and warranted several photos, although it is difficult to get a feeling of its grandeur in a photo.

In 1131 the Norman lord of Chepstow, Walter Fitz Richard, established the abbey here. Fitz Richard was a member of the powerful de Clare family, and his abbey was the first Cistercian foundation in Wales - and only the second in all of Britain after Waverley, in Surrey. The monks for the new abbey came directly from France, from the abbey of l'Aumone. It is intriguing that despite Tintern's early foundation, it established no further daughter houses in Wales.

The monks were granted sizeable estates on both sides of the Wye, the border between Wales and England. By the middle of the 13th century Tintern administered a dozen granges, or remote farmsteads. Even better days were to come, for when Roger Bigod III, Earl of Norfolk, inherited the lordship of Chepstow in 1301 he granted the abbey his estate at Acle, some 200 miles away. The Acle manor was to provide up to one-fourth of the abbey's income.

More of the stunning windows. The mind can hardly grasp what it all must have looked like in it`s heyday. Perhaps like the windows in York Minster?

The east window is magnificent as well!

A section of original ceiling in part of the Abbey - I just loved the patterns.

A coffee and scone later we crossed the River Wye ---

---- and headed for a viewpoint called The devils Pulpit. It was quite an uphill slog which took a toll on the knees and legs but it was worth the visit.

Although the sky clouded over, the images hopefully show something of the atmosphere.

A faster return downhill and a late lunch, we walked along the road to get an image of the other side of the Abbey before we headed for home.

Devil’s Pulpit is a limestone rock jutting out from the cliffs from where (legend has it) the devil preached to the monks below, tempting them to desert their order. It offers spectacular views over Tintern Abbey and the River Wye. Makes a story!

More history: 

It seems likely that the first monastic buildings begun within a decade of the foundation in 1131. The first church was fairly simple, but gifts by the Earl of Pembroke, William Marshall the Younger, around 1223 helped finance a great building programme. The chapter house and cloister were extended, and subsidiary buildings sprouted like mushrooms. No sooner did the monks rebuild the cloister walks and chapter house than they embarked on an ambitious plan to rebuild the entire abbey church.

It is fascinating to see how the early 13th century remains of the abbey church and the chapter house drifted away from the austere philosophy of the early Cistercians and became works of art, embellished with beautifully carved details. In contrast to normal Cistercian simplicity of design, Tintern was decorated with intricate floor tiles and painted glass.

From 1269 the abbey church was rebuilt from scratch, under an anonymous master mason who is known to us only through the superb quality of his work.

By the middle of the 14th century the abbey had roughly the shape we see today, enclosing an area some 27 acres, including guest accommodation, private lodging for the abbot, a grand gatehouse facing the River Wye and another on the slope of the hillside above.

By the time of the Dissolution the abbey had abandoned maintaining remote granges, and instead, relied on renting out its estates to tenants. An audit by Henry VIII's men in 1535 found that Tintern had an annual income of 192 pounds, making it the wealthiest monastery in Wales. The last abbot, Richard Wyche, surrendered Tintern to the king's commissioners in 1536, and the crown granted the property to Henry Somerset, Earl of Worcester.

When you consider that by the time of Henry VIII, this was just one of possible 850 to 900 religious houses in the country, you can see why he wanted some of their enormous wealth!

Then a quick wander round the Penallt Old church again as the light was good at this point, and in for dinner.

Home    Forward     Back

Anglesey Abbey

Anglesey Abbey is a great place to visit and is very family orientated as well. A community of Augustinian canons built a priory here, known as Anglesea or Anglesey Priory, some time during the reign of Henry I (i.e., between 1100 and 1135), and acquired extra land from the nearby village of Bottisham in 1279. The canons were expelled in 1535 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

The former priory was acquired around 1600 by Thomas Hobson, who converted it to a country house for his son-in-law, Thomas Parker, retaining a few arches from the original priory. At that time the building's name was changed to "Anglesey Abbey", which sounded grander than the original "Anglesey Priory". Further alterations to the building were carried out in 1861.

Now it is a beautiful garden to visit, owned by the National Trust, and well worth spending the day here. 

Heading toward the winter garden first, we encounter thes beautiful `touchable` trees You just have to!. 

As this is September, the trees, and indeed the whole garden, is showing signs of the autumnal season.

Silver Birches in the winter garden section. 

There are lots of trees around the site, in avenues (below) and in individual areas (above) 

Autumn colours along this avenue. To commemorate the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1937, Lord Fairhaven planted this extensive avenue of trees with a crossing avenue at the far end. The trees used were London plane alternating with horse chestnut in four rows, copying those planted in Windsor Great Park 

A large pool, the Quarry Pool, is believed to be the site of a 19th-century coprolite mine 

A watermill probably stood on the site of Lode Mill at the time of the Domesday survey in 1086. The Mill which stands today is likely to have been built in the eighteenth century. 

In 1793 the mill was described in a sale notice as 'Anglesea Watermill with dwelling house, yard, garden, barn, stables and outhouse and 3 acres of pasture adjoining'. Old photographs show the house next to the mill. The house was taken down in the renovation of the 1930s. 

In about 1900 the mill was converted from corn grinding to cement grinding. The cement was generally made by firing a mixture of clay and lime or natural chalk at about 400°C and grinding the resulting clinker into a powder. 

An engine may have been installed at this time, as inside the mill today there are some shafts, gears and a chain drive that are unusual in a watermill. 

The mill was owned by the Bottisham Lode Cement and Brick Company. Bottisham Lode is the stretch of water below the mill, one of a number of lodes that were used as a transport link to the River Cam. The water above the mill is called Quy Water. 

Unfortunately, the Bottisham Lode Cement and Brick Company was a victim of competition and the business had closed down by about 1920, leaving the mill to become derelict. 

The extensive landscaped gardens are popular with visitors throughout the year. The most visited areas include the rose garden and the dahlia garden, which contain many dozens of varieties. Out of season the spring garden and winter dell are famed nationally, particularly in February when the snowdrops first appear. The lawns of the South Park are mown less frequently and this allows the many wildflowers to flower and set seed. Over 50 species of wildflower have been recorded, including bee orchid, pyramidal orchid and common spotted orchid. In mid-summer, there are large numbers of butterflies such as meadow brown, gatekeeper, small skippers and marbled whites. 

Seen in the great dahlia garden, some beautiful displays - this suspended display really effective as you approached. 

The Circular Temple, Anglesey Abbey 

A touch of autumn. 

In the rose garden 

There is a lot to see at any time of year, masses of snowdrops in late winter but when we visited, cyclamen were putting on a great display as well as the dahlia. With a great place to get food, its a must see at least once. 

Home    Forward   Back

Newstead Abbey fungi & gardens

We visited here while based in a log cabin in Sherwood. We were mainly looking for different fungi on this trip, so this visit combined an historic site, with some fungi hunting.

The former Augustinian abbey once belonged to Lord Byron and now has a Mixed Style romantic nineteenth century garden.

The priory of St. Mary of Newstead, a house of Augustinian Canons, was founded by King Henry II of England about the year 1170, as one of many penances he paid following the murder of Thomas Becket. Contrary to its current name, Newstead was never an abbey: it was a priory.

In the late 13th century, the priory was rebuilt and extended. It was extended again in the 15th-century, when the Dorter (A bedroom or dormitory, especially in a monastery.), Great Hall and Prior's Lodgings were added. The priory was designed to be home to at least 13 monks, although there appears to have been only 12 (including the Prior) at the time of the dissolution.

The Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1534 gave the clear annual value of this priory as £167 16s. 11½d. The considerable deductions included 20s. given to the poor on Maundy Thursday in commemoration of Henry II, the founder, and a portion of food and drink similar to that of a canon given to some poor person every day, valued at 60s. a year.

Despite the clear annual value of Newstead being below the £200 assigned as the limit for the suppression of the lesser monasteries, this priory obtained the doubtful privilege of exemption, on payment to the Crown of the heavy fine of £233 6s. 8d in 1537.

The surrender of the house was accomplished on 21 July 1539. The prior obtained a pension of £26 13s. 4d., the sub-prior £6, and the rest of the ten canons who signed the surrender sums varying from £5 6s. 8d. to £3 6s. 8d.

The lake was dredged in the late eighteenth century and the lectern, thrown into the Abbey fishpond by the monks to save it during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, was discovered. In 1805 it was given to Southwell Minster by Archdeacon Kaye where it still resides.

The value of these sums may seem small but they have to be multiplied by 300 (approx) to get today's value.

Satyr Pan - Classical Mythology. one of a class of woodland deities, attendant on Bacchus, represented as part human, part horse, and sometimes part goat and noted for riotousness and lasciviousness.

The Byron Oak, as it is known, was planted by the young George Byron, later to become one of Britain’s greatest poets, at Newstead Abbey, shortly after he inherited the estate from his great-uncle in 1798 at the age of 10. The oak, and the poem the Byron wrote about in 1807, tell a story that is eloquently relevant to oak collectors and indeed anyone involved with the planting of trees.

Brown Birch Bolette (Leccinum scabrum for Latin lovers) Seen in one of the gardens.

There were many fungi dotted about. This one appealed to me with the abbey as a backdrop

View along one of the paths to the abbey.

The stew ponds are believed to be medieval and to have been made by the monks. The large rectangular pond is believed to survive from the late 17th century garden. What is a stew pond? A stew pond or stew is a fish pond used to store live fish ready for eating. During the Middle Ages, stews were often attached to monasteries, to supply fish over the winter.

The gardens around the house were made by Mrs William Frederick Webb and her daughters between 1865 and 1900. They include a fern garden, a sub-tropical garden, a Spanish garden, a Japanese garden (c1900) and a rockery inspired by Benjamin Disreali's novel Venetia, which was set in Newstead Abbey. The Rose Garden was added by Nottingham City Council, in 1965, and occupies the old kitchen garden. 

Dawn Redwood

Beautiful autumn colours.


Home

Return to the Yorkshire Moors

The Yorkshire Moors have always been popular places to visit as they are beautiful and full of history. There are many novels also written about them which give them a dark and foreboding character - places of mystery! We found a beautiful place to stay in Pickhill, (which was far from `dark and foreboding`) near Thirsk, Yorkshire. The bungalow was on a farm, and was like home from home - Amazing!

One of the first places that we visited was through Thirsk, and was called Sutton Bank. 

Sutton Bank is a hill in the Hambleton District of the North York Moors National Park, North Yorkshire in England. It is a high point on the Hambleton Hills with extensive views over the Vale of York and the Vale of Mowbray. 

At the foot of Sutton Bank lies the village of Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe; at 27 letters long, it has the longest hyphenated place name in England - how about that! 

The A170 road runs down the bank with a maximum gradient of 1 in 4 (25%), and including a hairpin bend. Vehicles have to keep in low gear whilst travelling up or down the bank, and caravans are banned from using the section. Luckily the weather was good the few time we drove it during the week, which made life a bit easier. 

Because it faces the prevailing westerly winds, Sutton Bank has been used by Yorkshire Gliding Club, based at the top of the hill, since the 1930`s I believe. 

Ampleforth Abbey is a monastery of Benedictine Monks a mile to the east of Ampleforth, North Yorkshire, England, part of the English Benedictine Congregation, and also a College for 6, 7 & 8 year old children. It claims descent from the pre-Reformation community at Westminster Abbey through the last surviving monk from Westminster Sigebert Buckley (c. 1520 - c. 1610). Unfortunately, the Abbey has recently been embroiled in a sexual abuse scandal. (2017)

Monks are known for living peaceful lives with plenty of time dedicated to study and prayer.

But the Benedictine monks at Ampleforth Abbey have also found another way to fill their days - brewing beer. It is something they have not done for more than 200 years. 

It appears to be a very successful venture!

The place is in magnificent surroundings which were highlighted by the autumn colours. 

Byland Abbey was described in the 12th century as one of the shining lights of northern monasticism. Its beginnings were unpromising – it was only after 43 years and numerous moves that the community of Byland found a permanent home – yet the abbey rose to be one of the largest of the Cistercian order in Britain. The remains of the buildings, particularly the great church with its magnificent west front, are important in the development of northern monastic architecture in the second half of the 12th century.

A good summary of the long history can be found here.

Although there appear to be a large number of ruined abbeys spread around the countryside, their downfall may well have started in the reign of Henry VIII.

After Wolsey's downfall, Thomas Cromwell became Henry's chief minister and earned the confidence of the King by helping him to break with Rome and establish Henry VIII as head of the Church of England. This act also brought him much needed wealth through the dissolution of the well-funded monasteries. Over four years Cromwell ordered that 800 monasteries be disbanded and their lands and treasures taken for the crown.

I believe in fact, that the `church` had owned as much as a third of all the land in Europe!. 

The cultural and social impact of this action was significant, as much of the land was sold to the gentry and churches and monasteries were gutted and destroyed. Henry's personal religious beliefs remained Catholic, despite the growing number of people at court and in the nation who had adopted Protestantism. 

The church of St Michael's, Coxwold, sits at the western end of the village. The current church was built in 1420-30 and is an unusually elegant church for the area, with a most impressive octagonal tower.

The first documented reference to a church at Coxwold came in 757, when Pope Paul I ordered King Eadbert of Northumbria to repair it. This early Saxon church was replaced by a 11th century Norman church, which was in turn replaced by the current elegant building, built in the perpendicular style in 1420-30 and left largely untouched since.

Day two of our holiday we intend to make our way toward Gillamor, and then onto Lastingham.

Home    Forward     Back