More information : (TL 60022666) Remains of (NAT) St Mary's Abbey (NR) (founded AD 1133) (NAT). (1)
St Mary's Cistercian Abbey at Tilty was founded by Robert de Ferrers (Earl of Derby) and Maurice Fitz Jeffery in 1153. The abbey was pillaged by King John's army on Christmas Day 1215. There were 7 monks in 1377 and the same number at its dissolution on 28 February 1536. The chapel by the gate (the "capella extra portas") is now the parish church (TL 59992651). A few fragments of the east wall of the cellarer's range with springers of a vault are all that remain (4). Foundation mounds are traceable over the whole site which was partly excavated in 1901 (3). (2-6)
The remains of St Mary's Abbey (Cistercian) comprise flint rubble walling about 30.0m long by about 3.0m high, see photograph, and the former chapel by the gate, now the parish church, see illustration.
None of the wall parch marks distinct on St Joseph's APs are visible on the ground though they can be seen in a dry season, according to the landowner, both in the vicinity of the extant walling and elsewhere in pasture, centred TL 60172667. The hummocky surface of most of this field indicates the extent of the Abbey buildings and gardens etc, but the only coherent pattern is at the E end where a series of banks and ditches focus on two dry linear depressions at TL 60172665 of TL 60172667. Being downstream of the Abbey it is doubtful if these are fishponds, the most likely purpose being osier beds.
Dickinson's plan of the Abbey, see illustration, (not to scale) taken from AP's may incorporate knowledge of informal diggings on the site between 1901-1942, (a) but Mr H Cuthbertson, the retired parish vicar, states there has never been any responsible excavation nor ground measurements taken. No local records of these diggings exist, but a display case in the church porch contains a fragment of 13th century moulded brick and two fragments of 13th/14th century glazed tiling together with a crude sketch plan of the Abbey by Mr Cuthbertson (from APs) and an artist's impression.
Surveyed at 1:2500. (7)
TL 599265. Tilty Abbey. Scheduled No 88. For the designation record of this site please see The National Heritage List for England (8-9)
Level 1 and level 3 survey carried out by Oxford Archaeology East due to the lack of a detailed description of the site and the poor condition of the surviving monastic wall, which led to its inclusion in the Heritage at Risk register. Notable results have been the identification of elements that relate to the premonastic landscape, notably Tilty Grange as the probable site of a Late Saxon estate/manorial centre.
enabled a clearer understanding of the layout and to a certain extent the development, of the monastic buildings and enclosures present within the precinct. Building on previous work undertaken by Galpin, Steer, Hall and Strachan amongst others, this new research has not focused on the claustral nucleus as has previously tended to happen, but has aimed to investigate the abbey complex in detail
across the scheduled area and beyond. More detailed evidence for the less well understood
elements of the precinct has been recorded, in particular in relation to the
infirmary, guests' house/manor house, gatehouse, ancillary buildings etc. These
features can be more fully understood in relation to the significant and influential
elements of the monastic buildings such as the church, in addition to local topography
and the surrounding landscape. The identification of a possible industrial building,
previously unknown, against the boundary between the Inner and Outer precinct courts
is of particular note. A greater understanding of the area to the west of the abbey
cloister/church where the later manor house was sited has been achieved. Probable hearth or fireplace identified by the geophysical survey.
Although no direct evidence for a burial ground was recorded the likely location of the
churchyard has been suggested based on the monastic plan, topographic grounds and
evidence from previous excavations. The earthwork survey results in particular indicate
that if burials had extended around the south transept of the abbey church they will
have been disturbed or destroyed by the quarrying and other activity associated with
the creation of the large pond in the eastern part of the scheduled site.
The site of the putative 'monk's well' in Home Wood and accompanying conduit/drains
have not been identified with any certainty, however the survey has indicated the
presence of a spring within the abbey complex. In addition, it has been suggested that
the watercourse known as Mill Stream probably relates to, or follows, the course of the
great drain that served the abbey's kitchens and claustral and infirmary reredorters.
Water management was an important aspect of the Cistercian abbey and this has been
investigated through both the Level 1 and Level 3 surveys which included the watermill
and its associated leets, channels, pond and banks. Site of the abbey windmill has been identified with some certainty. (10)
|