Buildwas Abbey

Location map
Shropshire
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caption="Buildwas Abbey shown within Shropshire"
(gbmapping|SJ642044)

Buildwas Abbey is located along the banks of the River Severn in Buildwas, Shropshire, England, about two miles west of Ironbridge.

Early history

The Cistercian Abbey of St Mary and St Chad was founded in 1135 by Roger de Clinton, Bishop of Coventry (1129–1148) as a Savignac monastery and was inhabited by a small community of monks from Furness Abbey. The stone from which it was built was quarried in the nearby settlement of Broseley.

The abbey's location near the border of Wales meant it was destined to have a turbulent history. Welsh Princes and their followers regularly raided the Abbey, and on one occasion in 1406 raiders from Powys even kidnapped the abbot. This however paled in comparison to an event in 1342 where one of the Buildwas monks, Thomas Tong, murdered his abbot, managed to evade arrest and then petitioned for re-instatement into the Cistercian order.

Closure

The abbey was closed in 1536 by the order of Henry VIII during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, whereupon the estate was granted to Lord Powis.

Modern history

The abbots house and infirmary were later incorporated into the building of a private house in the 17th century for the Moseley family, although the remaining buildings are now in the care of English Heritage and are open to the public, who can view the church which remains largely complete and unaltered since its original construction, although it is now without its roof.

The remains are considered to be among some of the best preserved twelfth-century examples of a Cistercian church in Britain.

External links

* [http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/conProperty.332 Buildwas Abbey] (English Heritage website)
* [http://www.paradoxplace.com/Photo%20Pages/UK/Britain_Centre/Buildwas_Abbey/Buildwas_Abbey.htm Adrian Fletcher’s Paradoxplace – Buildwas Abbey Pages – Photos]