Vaudey Abbey , also known as Vandy Abbey or Vandey Abbey, was an English
Cistercian abbey. It was founded in 1147 by
William, Count of Aumale,
Earl of York
In Anglo-Saxon England, the Earl of York or Ealdorman of York was the ruler of the southern half of Northumbria. The titles ealdorman and earl both come from Old English. The ealdormanry (earldom) seems to have been created in 966 following a peri ...
. Its site is within the
Grimsthorpe Castle
Grimsthorpe Castle is a country house in Lincolnshire, England north-west of Bourne on the A151. It lies within a 3,000 acre (12 km2) park of rolling pastures, lakes, and woodland landscaped by Capability Brown. While Grimsthorpe is not a ...
park, in
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, 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-we ...
, northwest of
Bourne on the
A151, but there are no remains of the Abbey aside from earthworks.
The
Victoria County History
The Victoria History of the Counties of England, commonly known as the Victoria County History or the VCH, is an English history project which began in 1899 with the aim of creating an encyclopaedic history of each of the historic counties of En ...
contains a substantial report and a list of abbots.
Foundation
Vaudey Abbey was founded by monks from
Fountains Abbey
Fountains Abbey is one of the largest and best preserved ruined Cistercian monasteries in England. It is located approximately south-west of Ripon in North Yorkshire, near to the village of Aldfield. Founded in 1132, the abbey operated for 40 ...
, who first settled at Bytham on 26 May 1147, near William’s
Castle Bytham. However, they soon found the land unsuitable, and by 1149 one of William’s tenants,
Geoffrey de Brachecourt, had given the monks new lands in nearby Grimsthorpe. This new site was named la, Vallis Dei (Valley of God), or "Vaudey" in the vernacular.
[
]
Prosperity
During the 13th century, the house flourished with profits from wool, which by the late 13th century reached approximately £200 per year. In 1229, the abbot was sent in the king’s name to bear messages to Llewelyn, Prince of Wales, and in 1280 the abbot was empowered to arrest all vagabond Cistercian monks or lay-brothers, by the help of the secular arm, and to inflict appropriate punishment. However, by the end of the thirteenth century the abbey was experiencing financial difficulties and the number of monks had likely fallen.[
Stephen of Sawley, abbot of Fountains, died in 1252 while conducting a visitation of Vaudey and was buried in the chapter house.
]
Dissolution
The house was suppressed with the smaller monasteries in 1536. At 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 ...
, the net annual income of the abbey was £124.[ By the mid-16th century, the abbey buildings were in ruins. In 1539, Henry VIII granted ]Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk
Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, 1st Viscount Lisle, (22 August 1545) was an English military leader and courtier. Through his third wife, Mary Tudor, he was brother-in-law to King Henry VIII.
Biography
Charles Brandon was the second ...
the lands of Vaudey Abbey, and he used its stone as building material for his new house. In 1736 William Stukeley noted that only the precinct wall remained intact.
On the other side of Grimsthorpe Park, Scottlethorpe had substantial stone remains used as part of a barn. This may be remains of an unrelated chapel known to have been located in the parish, or might have been re-located from Vaudey Abbey. The doorway was moved into Edenham
Edenham ( ) is a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is approximately north-west of Bourne, and on the A151 road. While the civil parish is called 'Edenham', the parish council is called Eden ...
church in 1967.
References
*
{{Monasteries in Lincolnshire , state=expanded
1147 establishments in England
Religious organizations established in the 1140s
Christian monasteries established in the 12th century
Monasteries in Lincolnshire
1536 disestablishments in England
Cistercian monasteries in England