Croyland Abbey is a Grade II-listed

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

(currently used as

office An office is a space where an Organization, organization's employees perform Business administration, administrative Work (human activity), work in order to support and realize objects and Goals, plans, action theory, goals of the organizati ...

s), in

Wellingborough Wellingborough ( ) is a large market and commuter town in the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, 65 miles from London and from Northampton on the north side of the River Nen ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

History

The building was never an abbey.Parishes: Wellingborough', A History of the County of Northampton: Volume 4 (1937), pp. 135-146. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=66335 Date accessed: 14 June 2013. It is named after Croyland (or Crowland) Abbey in

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 ...

, for which it was a

monastic grange Monastic granges were outlying landholdings held by monasteries independent of the manorial system. The first granges were owned by the Cistercians and other orders followed. Wealthy monastic houses had many granges, most of which were largely a ...

from the 10th century. Although there was never an Abbey here, there were monks here that lived and worshipped at the site. A Grade I

tithe barn A tithe barn was a type of barn used in much of northern Europe in the Middle Ages for storing rents and tithes. Farmers were required to give one-tenth of their produce to the established church. Tithe barns were usually associated with the vi ...

, dating to the 15th Century, is the only remaining building that was attached to the medieval grange. The ironstone barn survived a fire in 1972. The present structure is Jacobean and was constructed in the 17th century. It has been heavily altered and rebuilt; with large parts of the 17th-century house demolished in the early 19th-century. However, traces of the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

grange exist, in the form of a 12th-century doorway. The Abbey adjoins Croyland Hall, originally a farmhouse, which was home to Wellingborough Heritage Centre until 2006. Renamed Wellingborough Museum, it relocated to the building that used to be Dulleys swimming baths in Castle Way, with the help of the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

. Both Croyland Hall and Croyland Abbey are now occupied as offices by

Wellingborough Borough Council Wellingborough ( ) is a large market and commuter town in the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, 65 miles from London and from Northampton on the north side of the River Nen ...

. There is a Cleric with the Title Abbot of Croyland.

References

{{Reflist Country houses in Northamptonshire Wellingborough