Croxden Abbey
Croxden Cistercian Abbey | |
---|---|
West facade |
|
location |
United Kingdom of England |
Coordinates: | 52 ° 57 ′ 16 ″ N , 1 ° 54 ′ 13 ″ W |
Serial number according to Janauschek |
451 |
founding year | 1176 |
Year of dissolution / annulment |
1538 |
Mother monastery | Aulnay Monastery |
Primary Abbey | Clairvaux Monastery |
Daughter monasteries |
no |
Croxden Abbey (Val-Ste.-Marie, Vale of St. Mary) is a former Cistercian monk abbey in England . The monastery is located in Croxden, around 7 km northwest of Uttoxeter , in the county of Staffordshire .
history
The abbey was in 1176 de Bertram Verdun as a daughter monastery cloister Aulnay (Aunay) in Normandy , devoted to the Congregation of Savigny had joined in 1147 the Cistercian order and the filiation of the Branch Clairvaux belonged, initially founded in Cottonwood, but already three Relocated to Croxden years later. The founding convention came from France while the first abbot, Thomas, was an Englishman. The construction work dragged on for around 50 years; the church was consecrated in 1253. The abbey, which probably never had more than twelve monks, lived mainly from sheep breeding. During the 14th century, difficulties arose with the successors of the founding family. Economic difficulties also arose towards the end of the 14th century, so that the number of monks fell to six. In 1535 the annual income of the abbey was estimated at £ 103. It was confiscated by the Crown in 1538. Today the ruins are looked after by English Heritage .
Plant and buildings
The remains of the facility lie between modern farm buildings. The plan of the monastery was derived from that of the mother house and was more elaborate than is often the case with English monasteries. The church had a choir with five semicircular chapels extending from an ambulatory (similar to Hailes Abbey ) and a three-aisled nave with eight bays. The western front with a Gothic gate with five archivolts and three slender lancet windows, parts of the crossing, especially the south transept, fragments of the cloister and the three-aisled chapter room have been preserved. Today a street runs through the church ruins. The cloister is to the right (south) of the church. A single abbot's house from the 14th century has also been preserved in the southeast.
literature
- Antony New: A guide to the abbeys of England and Wales. Constable and Company, London 1985, ISBN 0-09-463520-X , pp. 127-129 (with sketch).
- David Robinson (Ed.): The Cistercian Abbeys of Britain. Far from the concourse of men. Batsford, London 1998, ISBN 0-7134-8392-X , p. 91.