West Dereham Abbey was an abbey in Norfolk, England. St Mary's Abbey,

West Dereham West Dereham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of and had a population of 440 in 176 households as of the 2001 census, the population increasing to 450 at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of loca ...

, was founded in 1188 by

Hubert Walter Hubert Walter ( – 13 July 1205) was an influential royal adviser in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries in the positions of Chief Justiciar of England, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Lord Chancellor. As chancellor, Walter b ...

Dean of York Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

, at his birthplace. It was to be a daughter house of Welbeck Abbey, Nottinghamshire, for canons regular of the

Premonstratensian The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular of the Catholic Church ...

order.
The canons were to pray for the souls of the founder and his parents, his brothers and sisters and all his relatives and friends. It was surrounded by a moat and was to become one of the larger religious houses in Norfolk, with up to twenty six canons in the late 13th century, and was also quite wealthy, with extensive estates. The last recorded Bishop's visitation took place 10 August 1503. Bishop Redman of Ely found several insufficiently taught; therefore he recalled Brother Robert Watton from the university, to be joined in office with the prior, and diligently to teach his brethren. Thomas Fychele was removed from the subpriorship for his negligence in his duty; otherwise the condition and discipline of the house were good. Leading up to the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Thomas Cromwell's agent Sir John Prise reported in 1536: the canons were all lacking self-restraint, and were ready to confess themselves as such, longing to marry, and believing that the king had been divinely sent on earth to bring this about. He then in 1538 petitioned

Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

for the lands for himself. However, following the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539, the site and associated lands were granted by

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 ...

to Thomas Dereham of

Crimplesham Crimplesham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated east of the small town of Downham Market, south of the larger town of King's Lynn, and west of the city of Norwich. History Crimplesham's name is of ...

. A house built on the site in the later 16th century was altered and extended in the 1690s by Thomas Dereham on his return from Italy, where he had been envoy to the court of the Grand Duke of Tuscany. This house was largely demolished in around 1810, the remaining part being converted to a farmhouse, the ruins of which were restored in the 1990s. The remains are Grade II* listed. Almost all the abbey buildings have been demolished, but buried foundations survive and can be seen as cropmarks on aerial photographs, as can other earthworks and fishponds.P. Aldridge (NLA) 2007

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