Colombier à St Pierre de Cormeilles (Eure)

Cormeilles Abbey (french: Abbaye Notre-Dame de Cormeilles) was a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monastery in Cormeilles,

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

, in what is now the commune of Saint-Pierre-de-Cormeilles,

Eure Eure () is a department in Normandy in Northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2019, Eure had a population of 599,507.William FitzOsbern William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford, Lord of Breteuil ( 1011 – 22 February 1071), was a relative and close counsellor of William the Conqueror and one of the great magnates of early Norman England. FitzOsbern was created Earl of Hereford ...

and Adeliza de Tosny founded the abbey in around the year 1060, and endowed it richly with lands in England, after the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...

. He was buried there in 1071. According to

Ordericus Vitalis Orderic Vitalis ( la, Ordericus Vitalis; 16 February 1075 – ) was an English chronicler and Benedictine monk who wrote one of the great contemporary chronicles of 11th- and 12th-century Normandy and Anglo-Norman England. Modern historia ...

it was one of two religious foundations he established on his estates. The other was the Abbaye Notre-Dame de Lyre.

Later history

The abbey had fallen into disrepair by the fifteenth century. After a series of partial reconstructions, it was suppressed in 1779. The buildings are now almost completely destroyed, apart from the former abbot's house, the precinct wall and a dovecote. A fragment of vaulting, possibly from a passageway in the

cloister A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a ...

, survives in Chepstow Priory Church, displayed on the stump of its crossing tower.

Priories

Chepstow Priory was dependent on Cormeilles,

Chepstow Chepstow ( cy, Cas-gwent) is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the tidal River Wye, about above its confluence with the River Severn, and adjoining the western ...

having been one of FitzOsbern's grants. Newent Priory, at

Newent Newent (; originally called "Noent") is a market town and civil parish about 10½ miles (17 km) north-west of Gloucester, England. Its population was 5,073 at the 2001 census, rising to 5,207 in 2011, The population was 6,777 at the 2021 Census. ...

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 a

cell Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life Cell may also refer to: Locations * Monastic cell, a small room, hut, or cave in which a religious recluse lives, alternatively the small precursor of a monastery ...

of Cormeilles, as was another priory at

Kyre Kyre is a small village and civil parish in the Malvern Hills district of the county of Worcestershire, England, and shares its parish council with neighbouring Stoke Bliss and Bockleton. Kyre Minor and Kyre Wyard were both in the upper divi ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

. The place name Place de Cormeilles in the historic centre of Chepstow commemorates the association of the two places.

References

{{coord, 49, 14, 15, N, 0, 23, 5, E, type:landmark_region:FR, display=title Benedictine monasteries in France Buildings and structures in Eure 1060 establishments in Europe 1060s establishments in France Religious buildings and structures completed in 1060