Revesby Abbey

Revesby Abbey was a Cistercian monastery located near the village of Revesby in Lincolnshire, England. The abbey was founded in 1143 by William de Roumare, Earl of Lincoln. The first monks came to the abbey from the great Yorkshire house of Rievaulx Abbey. They were led by Aelred of Rievaulx, a former courtier who was to go on to become abbot of Rievaulx itself and a noted historian and theologian. He eventually became a saint.

After the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century, the Abbey became a country house. The most notable owner was the naturalist Joseph Banks. The current house was built in the mid 19th century. As of 2011, it is in private ownership, but it is poor condition, and listed on the English Heritage "At Risk" register.

History

When the monks arrived there was a pre-existing village on the site. The population was moved and the village was demolished save for the church of St. Laurence, which the monks initially retained for their own use. Over the latter part of the twelfth century a stone monastery was constructed on the site. There was a large cruciform church with a nave of seven bays, an aisled presbytery and numerous chapels. South of this stood the domestic buildings, arranged around two cloisters. This core was surrounded by gardens, fishponds, orchards, barns, guesthouses, stables, a farmyard and industrial buildings. A wall protected the monastic grounds and entry was controlled by gatehouses.

Very little is known of the internal history of the abbey, which seems to have been uneventful. Revesby had been given a fairly substantial endowment and hence had a comfortable income. In the thirteenth century the house was fairly prosperous, however, in the fourteenth century the monks were hit hard by government exactions, unpaid debts from the king, animal plagues that killed all the stock and barreness of the abbey lands. In 1382 the abbey received an additional grant of property which may have gone some way towards allievating the situation, but it is likely that the decline (not helped by mismanagement) continued though the fifteenth century. It was noted before the Dissolution that the abbey buildings were already falling to ruin.

Dissolution

Charles Brandon, detail of a double wedding portrait attributed to Jan Gossaert, c. 1516

Despite this, in 1535 the abbey was valued in the Valor Ecclesiasticus as having an income of £287 (placing it among the middle ranks of its order) which meant that it escaped being dissolved under the terms of the First Suppression Act, King Henry VIII's initial move in the Dissolution of the Monasteries, which appropriated only the smallest religious houses. The respite was to be brief. No records survive as to exactly how or when Revesby Abbey fell, but it is likely that Abbot John and his monks were compelled to give their house to the king in 1538. It is likely that the abbot and monks were given pensions, though again no records survive. The abbey site was granted to Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk and immediately fell to ruin.

Remains of the medieval abbey

Very little of the abbey is visible today. Archaeologists have investigated some parts of the site, earthworks show where the abbey buildings lie buried and the site also has fishponds and moated enclosures that may be gardens. The remains are on farmland and are not open to the public.

Country house

After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the Revesby Abbey estate passed through various hands. In 1715 it was purchased by Joseph Banks, an attorney who made his fortune by acting as land agent to several of the richest landowners in Yorkshire and the East Midlands, including the dukes of Leeds, Newcastle, and Norfolk. The medieval deer park was landscaped in the 18th century. The naturalist Joseph Banks was the great-grandson of the purchaser. In 1820 the estate passed by inheritance to the Stanhope family.

The current house was built in 1845 by William Burn for James Banks Stanhope, in the Jacobean style. It is approached from the south by a one kilometre drive. The house, gardens and stables are in private ownership. The current owner has made considerable progress with repairs to the Abbey. The property is Grade I listed, and remains on the English Heritage at risk register. English Heritage funded temporary emergency repairs and the Revesby Abbey Preservation Trust was formed a few years ago.

Current landed estate

The house is now separate from the Revesby Estate, which is owned by the Wiggins-Davies family after passing down a complex line of inheritance due to several failures of the male line. The estate currently covers 2,510 hectares (6,200 acres), including 1,000 hectares of in-hand farmland and 215 hectares of woodland. The Wiggins-Davies' live at Revesby Park House, a more modest residence that was built in 1963.

Bibliography

• The Cistercian Abbeys of Britain, ed David Robinson, Batsford 1998
• A History of the County of Lincolnshire: Volume II, The Victoria County History 1906

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Revesby Abbey

• "The Abbey of Revesby"; British History Online ("Houses of Cistercian monks - The abbey of Revesby'", A History of the County of Lincoln: Volume 2, 1906, pp. 141-143). Retrieved 17 May 2012
• "Cistercian Abbeys: Revesby"; University of Sheffield. Retrieved 17 May 2012
• "Revesby Abbey and Stable Yard, Revesby", British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 17 May 2012

Coordinates: 53°08′N 0°03′W / 53.133°N 0.05°W / 53.133; -0.05