Garendon Abbey was a
Cistercian
The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...
abbey located between
Shepshed
Shepshed (often known until 1888 as ''Sheepshed'', also ''Sheepshead'' – a name derived from the village being heavily involved in the wool industry) is a town in Leicestershire, England with a population of 13,505 at the 2011 census. It is ...
and
Loughborough
Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...
, in
Leicestershire
Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...
,
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
.
History
Garendon was founded by
Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester
Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester (1104 – 5 April 1168) was Justiciar of England 1155–1168.
The surname "de Beaumont" was given to him by genealogists. The only known contemporary surname applied to him is "Robert son of Count Robe ...
, in 1133, and was probably a daughter house of
Waverley Abbey
Waverley Abbey was the first Cistercian abbey in England, founded in 1128 by William Giffard, the Bishop of Winchester.
Located about southeast of Farnham, Surrey, it is situated on a flood-plain; surrounded by current and previous channels o ...
in
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
. Garendon was one of a number of religious establishments founded or patronised by Robert. He endowed the abbey with 690 acres of land in Garendon, a
Burgage tenement in Leicester and land at
Dishley,
Shepshed
Shepshed (often known until 1888 as ''Sheepshed'', also ''Sheepshead'' – a name derived from the village being heavily involved in the wool industry) is a town in Leicestershire, England with a population of 13,505 at the 2011 census. It is ...
and
Ringolthorpe.
['House of Cistercian monks: The abbey of Garendon']
//A History of the County of Leicestershire//: volume 2 (1954), pp. 5-7. Date accessed: 20 June 2013
Within a century of foundation, the abbey gained lands at
Burton on the Wolds
Burton on the Wolds is a village in Leicestershire, England situated on the B676 road west of the A46 and about the same distance to the east of Loughborough, close to the county border with Nottinghamshire. In the 2011 census, the populatio ...
,
Eastwell,
Ibstock
Ibstock is a former coal mining town and civil parish about south of Coalville in North West Leicestershire, England. The population of the civil parish was 5,760 at the 2001 census increasing to 6,201 at the 2011 census.
The town is on the ...
,
Stanton under Bardon and
Welby, all in Leicestershire; land at
Costock
Costock is a village and civil parish in the Rushcliffe district of Nottinghamshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 Census was 621. It was estimated at 664 in 1998. Although in Nottinghamshire, Costock's closest town is ...
, Nottinghamshire; and at
Heathcote, Derbyshire.
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 ...
s were then developed near the abbey, and at Burton on the Wolds, Dishley,
Goadby
Goadby is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, about 8 miles north of Market Harborough. It had a population of 204 according to the 2011 census.
The village's name means 'farm/settlement of Gauti' ...
, Ibstock, Ringolthorpe, Stanton Under Bardon and Welby in Leicestershire; at Costock and
Rempstone
Rempstone is a village and civil parish in the Rushcliffe district of Nottinghamshire,
although its closest town and postal address is Loughborough across the border in Leicestershire. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was ...
, Nottinghamshire; and in the Peak District, in Derbyshire. Through these granges the abbey conducted sheep farming "on a considerable scale".
[
The abbey also gained two daughter houses, Biddlesden Abbey in Buckinghamshire, and ]Bordesley Abbey
Bordesley Abbey was a 12th-century Cistercian abbey near the town of Redditch, in Worcestershire, England.
The abbey's foundation was an act of Waleran de Beaumont, Count of Meulan, who gave the monks of Garendon Abbey in Leicestershire some ...
in Worcestershire.[
By the end of the 13th century, the abbey had fallen on hard times. The abbey had acquired debts of £120 and in 1295 the King had appointed a "special keeper" to administer the abbey's finance and deal with its debt problems.][
Despite the abbey's large endowments, its finances seem never to have recovered. In 1535 the abbey was recorded as having an annual income of £100. 18s. 10½d, and that "the large old monastery was partly ruinous". It was dissolved with the smaller monasteries (those with annual incomes of under £200) in 1536, with the abbot granted a pension of £30 a year.][
]
After Dissolution
After the abbey was dissolved the abbey church was completely demolished. The surrounding monastic buildings, already partially ruined, were then allowed to further disintegrate.[Garendon Abbey]
''English Heritage: PastScape''
King 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 disag ...
sold the abbey to Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland
{{Infobox noble, type
, honorific_suffix = KG
, name = Thomas Manners
, title = 1st Earl of Rutland
, image = Thomas_Manners,_1st_Earl_of_Rutland.jpg
, caption = Effigy of Manners, St Mary's C ...
, for £2,356 5s 10d. The earl then constructed a house on the abbey site, known as Garendon House. The house was owned by the Earls of Rutland until 1632, when it was given as part of a dowry
A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment b ...
for the marriage of Lady Katherine Manners (daughter of the 6th Earl of Rutland) and George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, 28 August 1592 – 23 August 1628), was an English courtier, statesman, and patron of the arts. He was a favourite and possibly also a lover of King James I of England. Buckingham remained at the ...
. In 1640 the estate was valued at £5,648 and was reported to contain 13,350 trees.[
In 1684 the 2nd Duke of Buckingham sold the house to Sir Ambrose Phillipps (a successful lawyer) for £28,000. Sir Ambrose and his son William did little to the house; his grandson, another ]Ambrose Phillipps
Ambrose Phillipps (c. 1707 – 6 November 1737), of Garendon Park, Leicestershire, was an English landowner and Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1734 to 1737. He was also an amateur architect.
Phillipps was the eldest son of ...
, an accomplished gentleman architect inspired by his Grand Tour
The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...
of France and Italy, started to change the house and the former abbey estate. Beginning in 1734, Ambrose landscaped the surrounding parkland and built to his own designs,[ Colvin, Howard, ''A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600-1840'', 3rd ed. 1995, ''s.v.'' "Phillipps, Ambrose: Garendon Park".] several Palladian
Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...
follies
''Follies'' is a Musical theater, musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman.
The plot takes place in a crumbling Broadway theater, now scheduled for demolition, previously home to a musical revue (based on t ...
, which still exist. Ambrose later began to redesign, extend and rebuild Garendon House in the Palladian style, developing it into what would be known as Garendon Hall
Garendon Hall was a country home near Shepshed, Leicestershire, England. It was demolished in 1964.
History
The site of Garendon Hall was formerly occupied by a Cistercian abbey, known as Garendon Abbey. The abbey was founded in 1133 and dissolve ...
. However, the work remained unfinished in 1737 when Ambrose died childless; it was completed by his brother Samuel, who inherited the estate.["Garendon Hall"]
, ''Lost Heritage''.
Following Ambrose's death, the family were left with a difficult financial situation and needed to tighten its belt.[ In 1885 they moved out of Garendon and into ]Grace Dieu Manor
Grace Dieu Manor is a 19th-century country house near Thringstone in Leicestershire, England, occupied by Grace Dieu Manor School until 2020. It is a Grade II listed building.
Early history
The house is named after the adjacent Grace Dieu Pri ...
. A return to fortune allowed the family to return to Garendon once more in 1907, however.[
The house was used and heavily damaged by the army during the Second World War. The ever-increasing cost of running and maintaining the building, coupled with threats to the house's parkland from the urban sprawl of ]Loughborough
Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...
and the construction of the M1 Motorway
The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the country was the Preston By-pass, which lat ...
, which cut directly through the park, it was decided the house was to be demolished. This happened in June 1964, with the house being deliberately set fire to first in order to provide practice and training for the local fire brigade. The house was reduced to rubble which was then used in the construction of the nearby M1.[
In 1964 the family returned for a final time to ]Grace Dieu Manor
Grace Dieu Manor is a 19th-century country house near Thringstone in Leicestershire, England, occupied by Grace Dieu Manor School until 2020. It is a Grade II listed building.
Early history
The house is named after the adjacent Grace Dieu Pri ...
, but sold that house within a decade (Grace Dieu Manor then became a Catholic school). In 1972 the family moved to Quenby Hall
Quenby Hall is a Jacobean house in parkland near the villages of Cold Newton and Hungarton, Leicestershire, England. It is described by Sir Nikolaus Pevsner as "the most important early-seventeenth century house in the county f Leicestershire. T ...
, but following the collapse of the family cheese-making business, the family has been forced to offer the Hall for sale (it has been for sale since 2012).[The de Lisles downsize: Quenby Hall for sale , The Country Seat]
/ref>
Abbots of Garendon Abbey
*Robert, occurs 1144–5.
*Geoffrey, occurs 1147.
*Thurstan, occurs between 1155 and 1164. Died 1189.
*William, elected 1189, resigned 1195.
*Reynold, elected 1195.
*Adam, resigned 1219.
*William, resigned 1226.
*Reynold, elected 1226, resigned 1234.
*Andrew, elected 1234.
*Simon, occurs 1251.
*Robert, occurs 1275.
*Roger, occurs before 1281.
*Eustace, occurs 1290 and 1294.
*John, occurs from 1299 to 1330.
*Walter Seynt Croys, occurs 1340, resigned in, or shortly before, 1350.
*John, occurs 1360.
*Thomas of Lughtburgh, elected 1361.
*John, occurs 1406.
*Richard, occurs early 15th century.
*John Scarburghe, occurs 1418.
*John of London, occurs 1439.
*John Clareborough, occurs 1487.
*William Leycestre, occurs 1490.
*Thomas, occurs 1513.
*Thomas Siston, occurs 1535.
*Randolph Arnold, last abbot.[
]
Burials
*Saer de Quincy, 1st Earl of Winchester
Saer de Quincy, 1st Earl of Winchester (c. 11553 November 1219) was one of the leaders of the baronial rebellion against John, King of England, and a major figure in both the kingdoms of Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland and Kingdom of England, Engla ...
Layout and remains
The abbey is thought to have been quite large: with the complex occupying an area of around 70m x 80m.[
St Bernard of Clairvaux, one of the founders of the Cistercian Order, disapproved of ornate church architecture and sculpture, which was subsequently banned by the order. Cistercian architecture and decoration was thus often very simple.][
Following the dissolution of the abbey, Garendon Hall (aligned north–south) was built straddling the location of the former abbey church (which was aligned east–west). The cellars of the hall incorporated 13th-century stonework which may have been original. The cellars also contained a pair of "stone lined wells".][Loughborough Past and Present: Garendon Abbey]
/ref>
Following the demolition of Garendon Hall, the site of the former abbey was able to be excavated. Excavations undertaken in 1966-68 located the foundations of the former abbey's chapter house and dormitory. The excavation also located the remains of the chapels attached to the transepts of the abbey church. It was also discovered that the abbey's drain was used as part of the sewage system of Garendon Hall.[
The remains of the chapter house and drains were left exposed, although are on private property. The ruins, together with surrounding area and associated monastic fishponds are ]Scheduled Ancient Monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...
s.[Cistercian Abbey, Mansion, Fishpond, Mound, Loughborough (Ancient Monument)]
/ref>
See also
*Garendon Hall
Garendon Hall was a country home near Shepshed, Leicestershire, England. It was demolished in 1964.
History
The site of Garendon Hall was formerly occupied by a Cistercian abbey, known as Garendon Abbey. The abbey was founded in 1133 and dissolve ...
References
External links
*A video of the burning and demolition of Garendon Hall - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aK1U_uqU63c
{{Monasteries in Leicestershire , state=expanded
Monasteries in Leicestershire
1133 establishments in England
Religious organizations established in the 1130s
Monasteries dissolved under the English Reformation