Bruern or Bruern Abbey is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

on the

River Evenlode The River Evenlode is a river in England which is a tributary of the Thames in Oxfordshire. It rises near Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire in the Cotswold Hills and flows south-east passing near Stow-on-the-Wold, Charlbury, Bladon, and Cass ...

about north of

Burford Burford () is a town on the River Windrush, in the Cotswold hills, in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England. It is often referred to as the 'gateway' to the Cotswolds. Burford is located west of Oxford and southeast of Che ...

West Oxfordshire West Oxfordshire is a local government district in northwest Oxfordshire, England, including towns such as Woodstock, Burford, Chipping Norton, Charlbury, Carterton and Witney, where the council is based. Area The area is mainly rural downland ...

. The 2001 Census recorded the parish population as 62.

Cistercian Abbey

In 1147 Nicholas Basset founded a Cistercian

Abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The con ...

here as 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 channe ...

in Surrey. The Abbey held property in west Oxfordshire, east

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 ...

and at Priddy in Somerset. In 1382 the abbey also bought the manor of

Fifield, Oxfordshire Fifield is a village and civil parish about north of Burford in Oxfordshire. The western boundary of the parish forms part of the county boundary with Gloucestershire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 240. Archaeology I ...

. The abbey was dissolved in October 1536. After the dissolution, the Abbey became the property of Sir Anthony Cope of

Hanwell, Oxfordshire Hanwell is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about northwest of Banbury. Its area is and its highest point is about above sea level. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 263. Early history Remains of a substantial R ...

, ancestor of the Cope baronets. In 1720 a baroque country house was built for the Cope family, possibly on the site of the former abbey. A Georgian cottage in the grounds of the house includes a three- bay

vaulted In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while ring ...

chamber which may be a remnant of the original abbey buildings. Michael Bishop, Baron Glendonbrook, purchased the 18th-century property in 2012. The Abbey has been completely refurbished under his ownership, including the installation of "a large and impressive

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cant ...

stone staircase and twenty-five kilometres of data cabling' as well as a 'large underground car park". October–November 2015

References

Sources

* * * 1147 establishments in England Religious organizations established in the 1140s 1536 disestablishments in England Monasteries in Oxfordshire Cistercian monasteries in England Hamlets in Oxfordshire Civil parishes in Oxfordshire West Oxfordshire District Christian monasteries established in the 12th century Monasteries dissolved under the English Reformation {{Oxfordshire-geo-stub