Boxley Abbey
| Boxley Cistercian Abbey | |
|---|---|
| location |
 United Kingdom England Kent
 |
| Coordinates: | 51 ° 59 '37 " N , 0 ° 31' 30" E |
| Serial number according to Janauschek |
225 |
| Patronage | St. Mary |
| founding year | 1146 |
| Year of dissolution / annulment |
1538 |
| Mother monastery | Clairvaux Monastery |
|
Daughter monasteries |
|
Boxley Abbey (Boxeleya; Sanctae Crucis de Gratiis) is a former Cistercian monk abbey in Boxley about 3 km north of Maidstone in Kent in England .
history
The monastery was founded in 1146 (so the predominant reading, according to others as early as 1143) by Wilhelm von Ypres , the Earl of Kent, an illegitimate descendant of the Counts of Flanders, on a royal estate as a daughter monastery of the Clairvaux Primary Abbey . It was a place of pilgrimage because of its “rood of grace”, attributed to miracles. In 1171 the abbot attended the funeral of the murdered Thomas Beckett . Boxley founded the subsidiary Robertsbridge Abbey . The monastery complex was built in the late 12th century according to the Bernardine plan , but with the refectory parallel to the southern cloister wing and not at right angles to it. The cloister was at least partially rebuilt in the late 14th century. The monastery, valued at an annual income of 208 pounds, was closed in 1538, when a mechanical device is said to have been discovered in the mercy crucifix. The monastery property was handed over to Sir Thomas Wyatt . The west wing was then converted into a mansion, which was considerably reduced in size in the 19th century, and most of the remaining parts of the monastery were demolished.
Buildings and plant
Parts of the nave and the side walls of the side aisles of the cross-shaped, rectangular closed church with three side chapels on each of the east sides of the transept have been preserved. The presbytery is marked by cut yew trees. The enclosure was south of the church with the chapter house and monk's hall in the east and the refectory and calefactorium in the south. The barn from the 13th century and parts of the gatehouse have also been preserved. The ground plan was excavated in 1971/72.
literature
- Houses of Cistercian monks: The abbey of Boxley. In: William Page (Ed.): A History of the County of Kent. Volume 2. The St. Catherine Press, London 1926, pp. 153-155 ( The Victoria history of the counties of England ), (Reprinted by Dawson for the Institute of Historical Research, Folkestone 1974, ISBN 0-7129-0607-X ), online .
- Anthony New: A guide to the Abbeys of England and Wales. Constable & Company, London 1985, ISBN 0-09-463520-X , pp. 75-76.