Ramsey Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey located in Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, England, southeast of Peterborough and north of Huntingdon.
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History
Ramsey Abbey was founded in 969 by Saint Oswald, Bishop of Worcester through the gift of a local magnate, Æthelwine. The foundation was part of the mid-10th century monastic revival (when Ely and Peterborough were also refounded). It paid 4000 eels yearly in Lent to Peterborough Abbey for access to their quarries of Barnack limestone.
In the order of precedence for abbots in Parliament, Ramsey was third after Glastonbury and St. Alban's.[1]
The abbey prospered until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Stone from the abbey was used to build Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, King's College, Cambridge and Trinity College, Cambridge.
The abbey today
Today, what remains of the abbey gatehouse forms a part of Abbey College.[2] The main abbey building is used to house 6th form facilities and to accommodate lessons.
The Abbey Gatehouse (a National Trust property), the Almshouses, and the parish church can still be seen.[3]
Part of the gatehouse was removed and given to Cromwell's uncle. It now forms the main gateway to Hinchingbrooke House in Huntingdon.
References
- ^ "Ramsey Abbey". Catholic Encyclopedia. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12638a.htm.
- ^ The Ramsey Abbey School has recently amalgamated with the adjacent Ailwyn School. A new establishment "The Abbey College, Ramsey" will be operational from September 2006, leaving the previous two names defunct.
- ^ Ramsey town website
External links
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