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AMESBURY ABBEY

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Benedictine Abbey founded in 979, refounded by Henry II in 1177 as a Priory of Monks and Nuns of the Fontevrault order. Dissolved in1539. All buildings have been demolished. There is debate as to whether the present parish church was the priory church. This is very unlikely since it is 300 yards from the known site of the monastery. But, two possibilities should be considered. It may have served as the church of the monks with the main priory church serving the nuns, or it may be on the site of the Saxon monastery, and was the last stone version of the earliest priory church. However, the important fact that the Fontevraultine nuns were able to occupy their nunnery immediately indicates that the nunnery changed order, not location. There is further evidence to suggest that Amesbury was also a minster, and it may have been this which the parish church replaced. The minster may have preceded and/or existed at the same time as the Benedictine nunnery since Amesbury was a royal estate from at least Alfred's reign. Lidar survey has revealed numerous slight earthworks in the grounds of the present house which may be remnants of the earlier site of the monastery.

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(SU 15094172) Amesbury Abbey (NAT) on site of Abbey
(NR). (1)

The Benedictine Abbey was founded in 979 or 980 by Alfrida, relict of King Edgar. In 1177 after complaints about the conduct of the thirty nuns then in the abbey they were dispersed. Amesbury was then refounded by Hen II as a priory of Benedictine monks and nuns of the Fontevrault order. A prioress, twenty-four nuns and an unknown number of monks were installed. A prior is recorded in 1399 and both a prior and prioress in 1403, indicating that it was still under Fontevrault. After it was made denizen it became an ordinary Benedictine Priory until suppressed in 1539. The precinct with paled park, fishponds, etc enclosed 12 acres. The buildings, church cloister, chapter house etc., were demolished and a succession of houses built on the site, the current one being of c1830. Traces, especially tiles from the monastic buildings, have been found at the site. In 1867 a theory was advanced that Amesbury parish church was the priory church, but this is now considered unlikely. (2-4)

There are now no visible remains of the monastic establishment at Amesbury Abbey. Late Saxon cross fragments, probably from the site are in Amesbury church (See SU 14 SE 120). (5)

Nothing is known about the monastery buildings or the site of the Benedictine Abbey, but it is known that they were replaced by Henry II. No traces survive but parts of the prioress's lodgings were retained to form a house which survived until the mid 17th century, parts of the walling remained in the park until the early 19th century. (6)

SU 15094180: Seven encaustic tiles were recovered during construction work within the Abbey grounds. These are now in Salisbury Museum Acc. No. 75. 1982. (7)

The Abbey lies within the area mapped from aerial photographs by both RCHME's Salisbury Plain Training Area NMP and EH's Stonehenge WHS Mapping Project, but no further information was added by either survey. (10)

Lidar survey has identifiednumerous slight earthworks in the grounds of the present house (west, south and east) which may be remnants of the earlier site of the monastery. They may also be part of later garden earthworks from the post medieval landscaping of the park associated with the house. (11)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 6" Prov.

( 2) by David Knowles and R Neville Hadcock 1971 Medieval religious houses in England and Wales

1953 edition Page(s)209

( 3) edited by R B Pugh and Elizabeth Crittall 1956 A history of Wiltshire, volume 3

The Victoria history of the counties of England Page(s)242-9

( 4) by Nikolaus Pevsner; revised by Bridget Cherry 1975 Wiltshire

The Buildings of England Page(s)82

( 5) Field Investigators Comments

F1 NVQ 28-JUN-69

( 6) Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England 1987 Churches of south-east Wiltshire

Page(s)233-5

(7) The Wiltshire archaeological and natural history magazine

78, 1984 Page(s)133

(8) edited by D A Crowley 1995 A history of Wiltshire, volume 15 : Amesbury Hundred, Branch and Dole Hundred

The Victoria history of the counties of England Page(s)29,50-2

(9) edited by Michael Aston and Carenza Lewis 1994 The medieval landscape of Wessex

Oxbow monographs Hase P 46 Page(s)43-81

(10) RCHME/EH/HE Aerial Photographers comment

English Heritage: Stonehenge WHS Mapping Project

(11) Light detection and ranging (lidar) airborne survey

Environment Agency Lidar

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