Abingdon Abbey (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Abyndon, Abbandune

In the civil parish of Abingdon.
In the historic county of Berkshire.
Modern Authority of Oxfordshire.
1974 county of Oxfordshire.
Medieval County of Berkshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SU50119714
Latitude 51.67037° Longitude -1.27640°

Abingdon Abbey has been described as a probable Fortified Ecclesiastical site.

There are no visible remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*.

Description

Norman and later Benedictine monastery, one of the most important monastic centres in England. Built on the site of an earlier Minster and Benedictine monastery. Following the collapse of the central tower in 1091, the church was rebuilt, and the former monastic buildings demolished and rebuilt. The abbey was suppressed in 1538. Trial excavations located the great church built in the Norman period from 1091-1120. Robbing after the Dissolution had been so extensive that even the foundations were removed. Reconstruction of the plan from the original excavation notes shows the church to have been aisled with transepts and a rectangular chancel. However, much detail is still uncertain. The cloister and monastic buildings were arranged to the South of the church. Abbey buildings extant include the late C13 or early C14 century guest-house, and the late C15 gatehouse. (PastScape)

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1330 July 23 (Click on the date for details of this licence.).

Comments

The abbey was granted licence to crenellate in 1330 but there is nothing to suggest the abbey had anything other than the usual precinct walls and impressive gatehouse, although these would have, undoubtable been crenellated. The existing gatehouse is heavily restored but may have parts which date back to time of this licence but the adjacent guest-house does date back to this period, suggesting the licence was part of a building campaign designed to provide public buildings for (wealthy) pilgrims.

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1006309, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number ox218
National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1048844 , 1368671
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 237919.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 2901.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- David Nash Ford's Historic Buildings of Berkshire
Books
- Goodall, John, 2011, The English Castle 1066-1650 (Yale University Press) p.72
  Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 3 Southern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 43-8
  Knowles, David and Hadcock, R. Neville, 1971, Medieval religious houses in England and Wales (Longman) p58
  Page, Wm. and Ditchfield, P.H.,assisted by Cope, John Hautenville (eds), 1924, VCH Berkshire Vol. 4 p. 430-2 online transcription
  Page, Wm. and Ditchfield, P.H. (eds), 1907, 'Houses of Benedictine monks: The abbey of Abingdon' VCH Berkshire Vol. 2 p. 51-62 online transcription
  Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol. 3 Part 2 p. 278, 409 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Coulson, C., 1982, 'Hierarchism in Conventual Crenellation: An Essay in the Sociology and Metaphysics of Medieval Fortification' Medieval Archaeology Vol. 26 p. 69-100 see online copy
  Biddle, M., 1968, Medieval Archaeology Vol. 12 p. 60-9 download copy
  Preston, A.E., 1922, Antiquaries Journal Vol. 2 p. 386-7
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1891, Calendar of Patent Rolls Edward III (1327-30) Vol. 1 p. 547 online copy
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Camden, Wm, 1607, Britannia hypertext critical edition by Dana F. Sutton (2004)
  Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p. 31
  Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (London: Bell and Sons) Vol. 5 p. 75, 77 online copy

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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely for educational purposes only.

The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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Help is acknowledged.

*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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