Newminster 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 B ...

abbey in

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

in the north of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. The site is protected by

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

and

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 ...

status. Ranulph de Merlay, lord of Morpeth, and his wife, Juliana, daughter of Gospatric II, Earl of Lothian, founded the abbey in 1137 and Saint Robert of Newminster from the Cistercian Fountains Abbey was appointed as the first

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. Th ...

; he governed from 1138 to 1159. The year after its foundation, the abbey (at that time only a group of timber buildings) was burned in an attack by Scottish raiders. The Abbey construction resumed and in 1159 Abbot Robert died and was buried beneath the high altar. His tomb became a shrine and place of pilgrimage, and a number of miracles were ascribed to him so that eventually he was canonised. The abbey was located a short distance to the west of Morpeth, Northumberland, on the boundary between the lands of Ranulph de Merlay and Bertram of Mitford. Both these minor barons, and also D'Umfraville of Prudhoe, Lord of Redesdale, were significant benefactors in the abbey's early years. As a result, by 1240 the abbey possessed lands extending to Benton-on-Tyne where they had fisheries, to Cambois on the east coast where they had saltpans, and to Kidland on the Scottish border, where they annually led sheep to pasture during the summer months. The abbey established daughter houses at Pipewell in Northamptonshire, at Sawley Abbey near Clitheroe in Lancashire and at Roche Abbey near Rotherham in Yorkshire. After closure during the first wave of dissolution in 1537, the estate was leased by the Crown by the Grey family''Blackett-Ord Manuscripts'' Northumberland Record Office, (Newminster Abbey Estate, reference NRO324/M1) who used many of the stones for their own buildings. The estate including the site of the abbey was sold by the Crown to Robert Brandling in 1609, and was sold on by the Brandling family in 1709 to John Ord of Fenham. The site is in private ownership and there is no public access or parking near it. However, the site can be viewed from the hill above it and from a public footpath that runs on the west side. Access to the footpath is best from Kirkhill where you can park a car. The abbey is the namesake of the Abbey Well water brand created by Waters & Robson.

Burials at the abbey

*Saint Robert of Newminster d.1159 *Ranulph de Merlay (d. c.1170), his wife Juliana and his son Osbert *Roger son of Ranulph de Merlay d.1188 *Roger son of Roger de Merlay d.1239 *Roger son of Roger de Merlay d.1265 *

Ralph de Greystoke, 1st Baron Greystoke Ralph de Greystoke, 1st Baron Greystoke, (15 August 1299 – 14 July 1323) was an English peer and landowner. Descent and title Greystoke was the son of Robert fitz Ralph (heir and second son of Ralph Fitzwilliam) and his wife Elizabeth, dau ...

d.1323 * Robert de Umfraville, Earl of Angus d.1325 * Sir Robert de Umfraville (d.1437) and Isabelle his wife * Ralph de Greystoke, 3rd Baron Greystoke d.1418

Civil parish

Newminster Abbey was a

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 ...

, in 1891 the parish had a population of 174. Newminster Abbey was formerly a

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, ...

in Morpeth parish, from 1866 Newminster Abbey was a civil parish in its own right until it was abolished on 30 September 1894 and merged with Morpeth, part also went to form Newminster.

References

External links

Newminster AbbeyStructural Images of the North East''Keys to the Past'' entry
with map {{Authority control Religious organizations established in the 1130s Cistercian monasteries in England History of Northumberland Monasteries in Northumberland Grade II listed buildings in Northumberland Scheduled monuments in Northumberland Christian monasteries established in the 12th century 1137 establishments in England 1537 disestablishments in England Monasteries dissolved under the English Reformation Former civil parishes in Northumberland Morpeth, Northumberland