More information : In 1537 Kirkstead Abbey was dissolved and the site was granted first
to Charles, Duke of Suffolk, and later to the Fiennes family, one of
whom was described as 'of Christed Abbey' in 1643 - very probably
their house was built from the Abbey ruins. A very early plan of the
abbey precinct made in 1716 by William Stukeley (1a) records the
position of elements of the later house. (1b)
A house existed on the site of Kirkstead Abbey until the last (ie the
eighteenth) century. (1c)
TF 1884 1665 (GCE). Most of what is visible on the surface within the
precinct of Kirkstead Abbey - especially away from the area of the
conventual buildings in the south-east quadrant of the precinct - is
in fact the remains of a house and formal garden of the post-
Dissolution period, and does not relate to the monastic use of the
site. Much of this was shown by the last OS surveyor to survey the
precinct (see TF 16 SE 4, auth 8 and the associated illustration card
held in the NMR archive), but was not recognized for what it was. The
abbey precinct is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, number Lincolnshire
6 (1d), and is put down to permanent pasture.
The post-Dissolution house is centred at TF 1883 6159 in the south-
west corner of the precinct on the probable site of the abbey guest
house whose buildings it may substantially have reused. The
identification of this structure as a later house depends on two main
observations in the field. First, on plan it sits with and is
surrounded by terraces and ponds which are very difficult to explain
other than as garden features. Second, the character of the robbing
is very different from that of the conventual area suggesting that
the building was robbed at a different, later, date: unlike the
amorphous hollows and general piles of rubble which mark the gross
positions of the conventual buildings, much of the detailed plan of
this structure is recoverable from the lines of actual robber
trenches. The field evidence indicates that the house was broadly H-
shaped in plan, possibly with a westward extension of the central
range: the broad outline of the central range and three of the wings
can be traced on the ground from robber trenches flanked by low banks
of upcast whilst the position of the fourth, south-east, wing is
indicated by a mound about 1m high suggesting it is less
comprehensively robbed than the rest of the building. Another mound
of similar proportions south of the house is probably the west end of
another incompletely robbed building.
The formal gardens lie principally north of the house. The house
would seem to have been approached via a gate in the centre of the
north arm of the moat giving access into a walled court. The sites of
both the gate and the walls of the court are mostly represented on
the ground by robber trenches flanked by low upcast banks, although
the southernmost 30m of the west wall of the court still survives to
considerable height as a single, tumbled, bank. A sunken garden court
lies immediately west of this bank/wall. Two more garden compartments
lie up against the west end of the church and alongside the west
claustral range, the former enclosed by banks exhibiting shallow
robber trenches indicating that it was a walled garden, the latter
with a deep depression along its south side probably a pond. In front
of the house are a series of garden terraces which drop progressively
down towards the north towards a number of water features. The
earliest of these are the two channels furthest west and east, plus
the cross-channel that connects the middle of the former to the north
end of the latter. The eastern channel is only 0.3m deep, and is
overlain by a tall mound about halfway along which may be the ruins
of an ornamental bridge. The western channel is broader and deeper,
and is cut by another pond towards the north which must therefore be
later. This late pond is connected to a second pond to the south-
east via a ditch which cuts through the earlier cross-channel, and
both now drain out into the moat via a breach in the precinct wall.
This second pond is of very similar size and proportions to the
first, suggesting it is of a similar, late, date. However, since it
also lies equidistant between the two earlier channels to west and
east it is possibly also an enlargement of an earlier feature. Other
small mounds and possible ponds immediately above the western channel
lie in sympathy with it, suggesting that they are contemporary. The
sites of two buildings up against the west arm of the moat are
indicated on the ground by robber trenches and are probably also part
of the garden layout. Further south between the house and the west
arm of the moat are two rectangular sunken courts defined by broad
terraces and walls. The northern of these is overlain by a platform
on which stands the ruins of a brick-built cottage, which was still
standing in 1972 (1e). This seems to have been part of a small
farmstead post-dating the demise of the main house, for it lies
adjacent to the low footings of another rectangular structure north
of the modern farm track which lies within an enclosure defined on
two sides by the moat and on the other two sides by an angled field
ditch.
Identified by RCHME and surveyed at 1:1000 scale as part of the site
survey of Kirkstead Abbey; full details and a complete earthwork
description are available in the NMR archive. (1)
This site has also been mapped at 1:10,000 scale as part of the
RCHME: Lincolnshire NMP. (Morph No. LI.468.2.1-16)
(2) |