Cirencester Abbey or St Mary's Abbey, Cirencester in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

was founded as an Augustinian monastery in 1117 on the site of an earlier church, the oldest-known Saxon church in England, which had itself been built on the site of a Roman structure. The church was greatly enlarged in the 14th century with addition of an

ambulatory The ambulatory ( la, ambulatorium, ‘walking place’) is the covered passage around a cloister or the processional way around the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar. The first ambulatory was in France in the 11th ...

to the east end. The abbot became mitred 1416. The monastery was suppressed in 1539 and presented to Roger Bassinge. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the abbey fostered the successful writers Robert of Cricklade and

Alexander Neckam Alexander Neckam (8 September 115731 March 1217) was an English magnetician, poet, theologian, and writer. He was an abbot of Cirencester Abbey from 1213 until his death. Early life Born on 8 September 1157 in St Albans, Alexander shared his b ...

. They were supported in their work by other canons, including Walter of Mileto and Alexander's nephew Geoffrey Brito.

Burials

* Regenbald *

Thomas Holland, 1st Duke of Surrey Thomas Holland, 1st Duke of Surrey, 3rd Earl of Kent, KG, Earl Marshal (8 September 1372 – 7 January 1400) was an English nobleman and courtier. Early life and family Born on 8 September 1372, Thomas Holland was the eldest son and heir of ...

and wife Joan Stafford (daughter of

Hugh Stafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford Hugh may refer to: *Hugh (given name) Noblemen and clergy French * Hugh the Great (died 956), Duke of the Franks * Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France under his father, Robert II * Hugh, Duke of Alsace (died 895), modern-day ...

)

Post dissolution

A house called Abbey House was built on the site in the late 16th century, remodelled in the 1780s, and then demolished in 1964 to be replaced by a block of flats. The area that contained the nucleus of the monastery is now a public park, and only the Norman Arch, an original gateway to the abbey, and parts of the precinct wall remain above ground. The impressive and substantial three-storey porch of the parish church was built as an administrative building of the abbey and after 1539 the upper levels were used for some time as the town hall.

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Victoria County History, Gloucestershire, Vol.2, 1907, pp.79-84, The Abbey of Cirencester
* New, Anthony. ''A Guide to the Abbeys of England and Wales''. London: Constable. pp. 113–114. * Platt, Colin. ''The Travellers Guide to Medieval England''. London: Secker & Warburg. pp. 110–112.

References

{{authority control Monasteries in Gloucestershire Augustinian monasteries in England Religious organizations established in the 1110s Christian monasteries established in the 12th century Cirencester 1117 establishments in England 1539 disestablishments in England Monasteries dissolved under the English Reformation