- Tavistock Abbey
Tavistock Abbey, also known as the Abbey of Saint Mary and
Saint Rumon , is aruin ed BenedictineAbbey inTavistock, Devon . Nothing remains of the abbey except the refectory, two gateways and a porch.The Abbey was founded in
961 by OrgarEarl of Devon and completed by his son Ordulf in981 , in which year the charter of confirmation was granted by King Ethelred II. It was endowed with lands inDevon ,Dorset andCornwall , and became one of the richest abbeys in the west of England. The church, dedicated to Our Lady and St. Rumon, was destroyed by Danish raiders in997 and rebuilt under Lyfing, the second abbot. The church was further rebuilt in1285 and the greater part of the abbey between1457 -1458 . Livingus and his successorAldred both became bishops of Worcester, and the latter is said to have crowned William the Conqueror. The thirty-sixth abbot, John Dynynton, was granted leave in1458 to use themitre and otherpontifical ia; and the thirty-ninth, Richard Banham, was made alord of Parliament by Henry VIII in1513 . Twenty-five years later the last abbot, John Peryn, with twenty monks, surrendered the abbey to the king, receiving a pension of a hundred pounds. The abbey revenues at the time of the dissolution were estimated at £902.References
*
*The Richard Banham (1492 - 1523), the 39th Abbot was more likely to have been Richard Baynham who was granted arms as follows: A Grant of Arms was made to Richard Baynham , Bishop of Tavistock (College of Arms Ms: 2G4/5b) in the time of Henry the Eight (1509 - 1547). The arms are: Gules a mace in bend sinister surmounted by a pastoral staff in bend dexter or on a chief argent three pierced mullets of five points sable.
Richard Baynham has been referred to as Richard Banham in a number of places. He was created Baron Hurdwick in 1514 (another name for the Hundred of Tavistock) [A History of Devonshire:With Sketches of it Leading Worthies - Richard Nicholls Worth ] Richard was a mitred Abbot which meant that he could sit in Parliament as a Lord and probably had the title Abbot-Sovereign. See also - HISTORIC COLLECTIONS, RELATING TO THE MONASTERIES IN DEVON. THE REVEREND GEORGE OLIVER, OF EXETER. EXETER: PRINTED BY R. CULLUM, 1820.
Further reading
* Victoria County History: Devonshire; A. J. Kempe, "Notices of Tavistock and its Abbey" (London, 1830)
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