Croyland Abbey is a Grade II-listed

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

(currently used as

office An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform Business administration, administrative Work (human activity), work in order to support and realize the various goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a po ...

s), in

Wellingborough Wellingborough ( ) is a market town in the North Northamptonshire, Unitary Authority area, England, from London and from Northampton, north of the River Nene. Originally named "Wendelingburgh" (the stronghold of Wændel's people), the Anglo ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

History

The building was never an abbey.Parishes: Wellingborough', A History of the County of Northampton: Volume 4 (1937), pp. 135-146. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=66335 Date accessed: 14 June 2013. It is named after Croyland (or Crowland) Abbey in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

, for which it was a

monastic grange Monastic granges were outlying landholdings held by Monastery, monasteries independent of the Manorialism, manorial system. The first granges were owned by the Cistercians, and other orders followed. Wealthy monastic houses had many granges, mo ...

from the 10th century. Although there was never an Abbey here, there were monks here who lived and worshipped at the site. A Grade I

tithe barn A tithe barn was a type of barn used in much of northern Europe in the Middle Ages for storing rents and tithes. Farmers were required to give one-tenth of their produce to the established church. Tithe barns were usually associated with the ...

, dating to the 15th Century, is the only remaining building that was attached to the medieval grange. The ironstone barn survived a fire in 1972. The present structure is Jacobean and was constructed in the 17th century. It has been heavily altered and rebuilt; with large parts of the 17th-century house demolished in the early 19th-century. However, traces of the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

grange exist, in the form of a 12th-century doorway. The Abbey adjoins Croyland Hall, originally a farmhouse, which was home to Wellingborough Heritage Centre until 2006. Renamed Wellingborough Museum, it relocated to the building that used to be Dulleys swimming baths in Castle Way, with the help of the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

. Both Croyland Hall and Croyland Abbey are now occupied as offices by

Wellingborough Borough Council Wellingborough ( ) is a market town in the North Northamptonshire, Unitary Authority area, England, from London and from Northampton, north of the River Nene. Originally named "Wendelingburgh" (the stronghold of Wændel's people), the Anglo ...

. There is a Cleric with the Title Abbot of Croyland.

References

{{Reflist Country houses in Northamptonshire Wellingborough