Bourne Abbey and the Parish Church of St. Peter and

St. Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

is a scheduled

Grade I In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

church in

Bourne Bourne may refer to: Places UK * Bourne, Lincolnshire, a town ** Bourne Abbey ** Bourne railway station * Bourne (electoral division), West Sussex * Bourne SSSI, Avon, a Site of Special Scientific Interest near Burrington, North Somerset * Bourne ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

, England. The building remains in parochial use, despite the 16th-century

Dissolution Dissolution may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books * ''Dissolution'' (''Forgotten Realms'' novel), a 2002 fantasy novel by Richard Lee Byers * ''Dissolution'' (Sansom novel), a 2003 historical novel by C. J. Sansom Music * Dissolution, in mu ...

, as the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

was used by the parish, probably from the time of the foundation of the abbey in 1138.

Monastic origins

While the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086 makes it clear that there was a church in Bourne in 1066, and there is a suggestion that there was an

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

abbey, as far as is firmly known, the abbey was founded as a

canonry A canon (from the Latin , itself derived from the Greek , , "relating to a rule", "regular") is a member of certain bodies in subject to an ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, i ...

, by a charter granted in 1138, by Baldwin fitz Gilbert de Clare (with the consent of Roger his son and Adelina his wife). He was a member of a post-

conquest Conquest is the act of military subjugation of an enemy by force of arms. Military history provides many examples of conquest: the Roman conquest of Britain, the Mauryan conquest of Afghanistan and of vast areas of the Indian subcontinent, t ...

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

family, settled in

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, which later made its mark in Wales and Ireland. Adelina was a great-granddaughter of

Hereward the Wake Hereward the Wake (Traditional pronunciation /ˈhɛ.rɛ.ward/, modern pronunciation /ˈhɛ.rɪ.wəd/) (1035 – 1072) (also known as Hereward the Outlaw or Hereward the Exile) was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman and a leader of local resista ...

, though the connection with the Wake family was not made until the generation after Baldwin and Adelina, when their daughter, Emma married Hugh Wake. The house was for up to 14 canons of the Arrouaisian reform of the Rule of St. Augustine. This was the height of the period of abbey founding and

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

-building in England. The foundation of the abbey was part of a general restructuring of the estate so that the current town centre was built as a new town at the entrance to Baldwin's new castle. The new main road passed between Baldwin's new castle and the abbey. The pre-Norman road lies under the junction between the nave and the chancel. This proximity to the road may have influenced Baldwin's thinking when choosing an order for the new abbey. By this time, Arrouaise itself was moving away from being a hermitage towards providing a service for travellers. In the late 13th century, the estate associated with

Bourne Castle Bourne Castle was a castle in the market town of Bourne in southern Lincolnshire (). A Norman castle was built by Baldwin FitzGilbert (son of Gilbert Fitz Richard, of the De Clare family). In medieval times there was motte and double bailey ...

was reorganised so that the main road was moved onto what had been part of the site of the castle and a little away from the abbey. The abbey was dissolved in 1536 along with the other small monastic houses, in the first phase of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

's Dissolution of the Monasteries.

Abbots

The following is a chronological list of the abbots as far as they are known. It is based on that in Swift's book, and from the Victoria County History. * Abbey charter 1138 * Gervaise of

Arrouaise The Abbey of Arrouaise in northern France was the centre of a form of the canonical life known as the Arrouaisian Order, which was popular among the founders of canonries during the decade of the 1130s. The community began to develop when Heldem ...

1138 * David 1156 * Baldwin 1212 * Everard Gutt 1224, resigned 1237 * William of

Repton Repton is a village and civil parish in the South Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England, located on the edge of the River Trent floodplain, about north of Swadlincote. The population taken at the 2001 Census was 2,707, increasing to 2,8 ...

1237 * Robert de Hamme, 1248, died 1260 * Robert de Hasceby (

Haceby Haceby is a hamlet in the civil parish of Newton and Haceby in the district of North Kesteven, Lincolnshire, England. It is east from Grantham, 8 miles south from Sleaford, and south from the A52 road. In the '' Domesday'' account the vill ...

), elected 1260, resigned 1275 * William of Spalding, elected 1275 * Nicholas 1287 * Alan de Wauz (Waux), died 1292 * Thomas de Calstewith (

Colsterworth Colsterworth is a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, less than half a mile (0.8 km) west of the A1, about south of Grantham, and north-west of Stamford. The village with the hamlet of Woolsthorp ...

), elected 1292, died 1313 * William of

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

, elected 1313, resigned 1314 * William of Abbotsley, elected 1314, died 1324 * John of Wytheton, elected 1324, died 1334 * Simon of Walton, elected 1334, died 1355 (mentioned as Simon Watton 1350 by Swift) * Thomas of

Grantham Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln and ...

, elected 1355, died 1369 * Geffory of Deeping, elected 1369, occurs to 1406 * William of

Irnham __NOTOC__ Irnham is a village and civil parish in South Kesteven, Lincolnshire, England. It is situated approximately south-east from Grantham. To the north is Ingoldsby and to the south-west, Corby Glen. The village is on a high limes ...

, occurred 1440 * Henry (died) 1500 * Thomas Ford 1500 * William Grisby (died 1512) * John Small, last abbot, occurs 1534 * Dissolution 1536 Simon Watton was

excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

, though we do not know how he had offended.

Literary associations

The ''

Ormulum The ''Ormulum'' or ''Orrmulum'' is a twelfth-century work of biblical exegesis, written by an Augustinian canon named Orm (or Ormin) and consisting of just under 19,000 lines of early Middle English verse. Because of the unique phonemic orthog ...

'', an important work in the form of a

Biblical The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

gloss, helps bridge the gap between

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

and

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...

in studies of the development of the language. It was probably written in Bourne Abbey by Orm the Preacher, in around 1175.

Robert Mannyng Robert Mannyng (or Robert de Brunne; 1275 – c. 1338) was an English chronicler and Gilbertine Order, Gilbertine monk. Mannyng provides a surprising amount of information about himself in his two known works, ''Handlyng Synne'' and ''Mannyng's ...

or Robert de Brunne, is well known among scholars of

for his works dating from the early 14th century. He led the writing of English out of its eclipse by

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and

Anglo-Norman Anglo-Norman may refer to: *Anglo-Normans, the medieval ruling class in England following the Norman conquest of 1066 * Anglo-Norman language **Anglo-Norman literature * Anglo-Norman England, or Norman England, the period in English history from 10 ...

. He is often said to have been a

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

in Bourne Abbey but he was a

Gilbertine The Gilbertine Order of Canons Regular was founded around 1130 by Saint Gilbert in Sempringham, Lincolnshire, where Gilbert was the parish priest. It was the only completely English religious order and came to an end in the 16th century at the ...

and the abbey was Arrouaisian or Augustinian. His name which associates him with 'Brunne', the form of 'Bourne' used in his time is likely to have arisen from his having originated in the town. Since the

of the abbey was the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

, Robert, the boy will have known it well until he left for

Sempringham Sempringham is a hamlet in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated south from the A52 road, east from Grantham and north from Bourne. The hamlet is in the civil parish of Pointon and Sempringham, and on the west ...

in 1288.

Burials

Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent (135025 April 1397) was an English nobleman and a councillor of his half-brother, King Richard II of England. Family and early life Thomas Holland was born in Upholland, Lancashire, in 1350. He was the eldest s ...

(1350/1354–1397) *

Edmund Holland, 4th Earl of Kent Edmund Holland, 4th Earl of Kent, 5th Baron Holand, KG (6 January 1383 15 September 1408) was the Earl of Kent from 1400 to 1408. He was the 106th Knight of the Order of the Garter in 1403. Edmund was born in Brockenhurst, Hampshire, the second ...

References

*Needle, Rex. ''A Portrait of Bourne - the history of a Lincolnshire market town in words and pictures'' (1998–2008, on CD-ROM, including 3,000 photographs from past and present and an illustrated account of the church including the current restoration programme).

External links

Bourne Abbey Website
{{Coord, 52.7663, N, 0.3756, W, type:landmark, display=title, name=Bourne, Lincolnshire Abbey Church of England church buildings in Lincolnshire 1138 establishments in England 1536 disestablishments in England History of Lincolnshire Arrouaisians Augustinian monasteries in England Monasteries in Lincolnshire Religious organizations established in the 1130s Christian monasteries established in the 12th century