The Cistercian Abbeys of Britain

by David M. Robinson, Nicola Coldstream, Glyn Coppack

Initially published to celebrate the 900th anniversary of the establishment of the Cistercian order in 1098, this is a guide to all the Cistercian abbeys in Britain. The 86 sites include the beautiful ruins of Tintern, Fountains, Rievaulx and Melrose, as well as the home of Sir Francis Drake and the burial place of the last Welsh Prince of Wales. Each gazetteer entry describes the history and architecture of the site and the people connected with it, and there are chapters on the overall history and architecture of the Cistercian order. There are also plans of all the abbeys, a detailed bibliography, and practical details such as grid references and information on access to each site.

Genres: History

224 pages, Paperback

First published July 29, 2002

Reviews

[Richard Bartholomew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well-illustrated guide to some of the most intriguing and romantic ruins to be found in Britain. Each Cistercian abbey is given a historical and architectural profile, and two introductory chapters provide a wider overview. Links with secular history are noted: Henry I of England met Bernard of Clairvaux, and monastic life became an attractive prospect during the uncertain years of civil war between Matilda and King Stephen. Relations between King John and the Cistercians were at times tense (he destroyed one abbey in Wales he thought was harbouring rebels, and increased taxes), although he donated a hunting lodge at Beaulieu as the site for a new abbey. In 1246 the abbot there was deposed after entertaining a woman visitor and her entourage. However, given that the woman concerned was Queen Eleanor, he was probably caught between a rock and a hard place. The book gives Scottish and Welsh history due consideration; the abbey with perhaps the most interesting name is Sweetheart Abbey near Dumfries, founded by Dervorguilla, widow of John Balliol. She was reportedly buried under the high altar with her husband's embalmed heart: the site "celebrates the divine and human love in a fusion of the mundane and the divine that is typical of late medieval spirituality" (p. 50). Various abbeys had relics: some Holy Blood of Christ at Hailes and a piece of the Holy Cross at Dore, as well as shrines for venerated abbots such as William and Ailred at Rievaulx.

The book resists the predictable story arc of simple beginnings followed by grandeur, laxity, and decline. However, successful economic management of grain and wool did lead to increased complexity, and, at times, overreach. Also, the Black Death resulted in changes to labour patterns, so that cheap lay labour became more scarce. The end of the main story is well-known: the last "voluntary surrender" of monastic lands to Henry VIII in England and Wales took place in 1540, and monasticism in Scotland ended by Parliamentary decree in 1560. Some entries in the gazette note which families took over various estates, as well as the fate of the infrastructure and later archaeological investigations. The entry for Buckfast Abbey also notes the revival of the site by exiled French Benedictines. No mention of the notorious "tonic wine", though.