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SIBTON ABBEY

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The remains of a Cistercian abbey founded in 1150 by William Cheyney, and dissolved in 1536. The abbey and its possessions were then surrendered granted to Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, and subsequently, in 1610, sold to John Scrivener. A house was built on the site, and the demolition of this in the later 18th century is recorded by Davey, a contemporary local antiquarian. The remains of the abbey church and claustral buildings occupy a platform at the foot of the valley of the River Yox. All that remains visible of the church is the wall of the south aisle of the nave constructed of flint masonry. The foundations of the north wall probably survive below the ground surface. The stump of the west wall of the south transept of the church projects from the eastern end of the standing wall, and west of this is another stump of flint masonry. Abutting the masonry stump is part of a structure of post-medieval brick, perhaps a stair turret and part of the later house. Skeletons and stone coffins recorded to the east of the church mark the location of the monastic cemetery. Buried masonry, possibly the foundations of a flint wall, has been noted in this area. The projections from the church wall, and a fragment of wall footing visible to the south of the western projection, define the limits of a cloister around which were the conventual buildings. The best preserved of these is the south range which contains the remains of the refectory with the buttery and kitchen. The ruined north, south and east walls of the refectory stand for the most part to almost their original height and are built from flint with stone dressings, displaying features of late 12th century date. The fragmentary walls of the west range define a building with a small apartment, possibly the outer parlour. Further remains visible as crop marks on aerial photographs include fishponds and the monastic garden or orchards. A hospital was founded at the gate of the abbey some time before 1264.

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(TM 36506980) Remains of Sibton Abbey (NR).
(Cistercian Founded AD 1150) (NAT).
(TM 36566989) Stone Coffins found AD 1832 (NAT)
(TM 36346963) Hospital (NR) (Site of) (NAT) (1)

Cistercian abbey of the Blessed Virgin of Sibton (3), founded by William Cheyney in 1150, for an abbot and twelve monks from Warden, probably soon increased to over twenty monks with many lay-brothers. There were forty four servants in 1369-70 and eleven monks in 1381. In 1536 the abbot and seven monks sold their house and possessions to the Duke of Norfolk, although being a greater monastery, the abbey was not due for suppression.

An endowed hospital for poor pilgrims and travellers and the poor, aged and infirm, under the rule of the abbey, was founded at its gate sometime before 1264 and was dissolved circa 1536. (2-3)

Only fragments remain of the Cistercian Abbey: part of the S side of the church, the angle of the nave and transept and parts of the refectory, kitchen and lavatory. (4)

The remains of the Abbey comprise the nave of the church, the north wall of a north range of buildings, and the fragmentary remains of a west range. All walls are of flint rubble, 1.0m thick, windows in the church suggesting a 12th century date. There is evidence of the buildings having been converted to domestic use; a bridge abutment of Tudor brick at TM 36086979 and fish ponds in Abbey Wood probably belong to that period.
Published survey, 1:2500, revised. (5)

Listed and Scheduled. (6-7)

The site of the hospital as recorded on older editions of OS maps was identified as such on the basis of some flint walling on the southern bank of the river and adjacent finds of tile and flint in ploughsoil. In the SMR it is recorded as part of the abbey, although with a separate record number. The flint walling is a short but substantial block of ruined masonry standing against the river bank beneath and adjacent to an 18th century bridge. There was no surface scatter of building materials visible on the field adjacent to this. The owner said that spoil dredged from the river had regularly been dumped on this side, and it is therefore not certain that any surface finds recorded in the area originated in the same spot. In the absence of reliable evidence to confirm the identification of the site or the possible survival and extent of remians, scheduling cannot be recommended for the hospital. (8)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 6" 1957

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

Page(s)114, 125, 332, 392

( 3) edited by William Page 1907 The Victoria history of the county of Suffolk: volume two

The Victoria history of the counties of England Page(s)89, 140

( 4) List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest

DEC-1948 Page(s)107

( 5) Field Investigators Comments

F1 NKB 22-MAY-74

(6) List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest

Suffolk Coastal, 21-DEC-1984 274

(7) Scheduled Monument Notification

07-JUL-1999

(8) English Heritage Alternative Action Report

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MONUMENT NO. 1432837
SIBTON

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Site of medieval hospital at Sibton Abbey. The Cistercian abbey at Sibton is known to have maintained a hospital at the abbey gate. The site of hte ho...

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