- St Benet's Abbey
St Benet's Abbey is a ruined
abbey situated on theRiver Bure withinThe Broads inNorfolk England . It is also known as St. Benet's at Holme or Hulme.Background
St Benet's, according to
abbey tradition, was founded on the site of a ninth-centurymonastery where thehermit Suneman was martyred by the Danes. About the end of the tenth century it was rebuilt by one Wulfric. A generation later, c. 1022, its estates of Horning, Ludham and Neatishead were confirmed by KingCanute . Other early benefactors includedEaldgyth Swan-neck , concubine toHarold Godwinson , and Earl Ralf II of East Anglia.At the time of the
Norman Conquest Harold Godwinson put theabbot of St. Benet's, Aelfwold, in charge of defending the coast against invasion. After the Conquest, Aelfwold fled to Denmark, and theabbey 's estates suffered encroachments by neighbouring landowners. The site was enclosed by a wall withbattlements in1327 .Sir John Fastolf , the inspiration for Shakespeare'sFalstaff figure, was buried here in December 1459, next to his wife Millicent in a new aisle built by Fastolf on the South side of the abbey church.St Benet's was the only religious house not closed down by Henry VIII during the
Dissolution of the Monasteries . Instead he united the Abbacy with thebishopric of Norwich and therefore, the Bishops of Norwich have stayedabbot s of St. Benet's to this day. However, the buildings were allowed to fall into decay and theAbbey was abandoned about 1545.The Bishop of Norwich, as Abbot, arrives once a year, standing in the bow of a
wherry and preaches at the annual service on the first day of August. About the year 1800 a farmer built awindpump inside the abbey gatehouse. On2 August 1987 across made fromoak from the Royal Estate at Sandringham was erected on the site of the High Altar.Abbots
The years listed are election datescite book | title = A History of the County of Norfolk vol. 2 | chapter = Partly from The Abbey of St. Benet at Holme | chapterurl = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=38263 | year = 1906 | location =
London ,England ] .References
Further reading
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*External links
* [http://www.norfarchtrust.org.uk/stbenets/index.htm Norfolk Archaeological Trust] - Owners of St Benet's at Holme
* [http://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/WindmillsD/st-benets-abbey-drainage.html St Benet's Abbey Mill History]
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