| Summary : A Cistercian Abbey, a branch of the mother house of Waverley, was founded at Garendon in 1133 by Robert Bossu, Earl of Leicester. In 1535 the large monastery was part ruinous. At the dissolution, the following year, the Abbey church was totally demolished and the Abbey lapsed into complete ruin. Garendon Hall was built on the site by a grandson of Sir Ambrose Phillips from an Italian design in the early 18th. century. The Phillips family were still residents in 1926. Pevsner described the house as Palladian, having eleven bays and a large portico. Behind the house to the north was a range of seven bays, facing east,which he suggested may be of the late 17th century. The house was demolished in 1964. Excavations have located part of the abbey layout, including the chapter house, dorter undercroft and a drain. |
More information : [SK 5012 1989] Garendon Hall [T.I.] On site of Garendon Abbey [N.R.] (Cistercian Founded A.D. 1133) (1)
A Cistercian Abbey, a branch of the mother house of Waverley, was founded at Garendon 28.10.1133, by Robert Bossu, Earl of Leicester. In 1535 the large monastery was part ruinous. At the dissolution, the following year, the Abbey church was totally demolished and the Abbey lapsed into complete ruin. The present house on the site was built by a grandson of Sir Ambrose Phillips from an Italian design in the early 18th. century. The Phillips family were still residents in 1926. Pevsner describes the house as Palladian, having eleven bays and a large portico. Behind the house to the north is a range of seven bays, facing east,which he suggests may be of the late 17th. century. (2-9)
Garendon Hall is as described by Pevsner (authy.2d) The owner Mr. March Phillips de Lille, indicated former Abbey walling in the cellars of the present house, and an original monastic drain discovered during farming operations "some years ago" (Surveyed at SK 5016 1987) Surveyed 14th/15th Nov. 1960. See Gps: AO/60/310/2: 17th.c. wing from NW. and AO/60/310/3: South front from SSW. (10)
During the demolition of Garendon Hall in July 1964 excavations were conducted by B C J Williams for the Loughborough Archaeol Soc on the east side of the Hall to establish Garendon Abbey. Foundations of a building were located which by comparison with Waverley Abbey, the mother house, were thought to be the undercroft and monks dorter
range. (11-12)
Further excavations in 1967-8 uncovered the foundations of the eastern apse of the Chapter House. Small finds include 13th and 14th cent.floor tiles. (13)
There are no remains of the Hall and the earthworks have almost been destroyed. Published survey 25" revised. (14)
SK 5014 1988; SK 5026 1979. Cistercian abbey and mansion, with fishpond and mound at Garendon. Two features of the abbey can be seen today, the exposed remains of the chapter house and a section of drain, the top of which is at the present ground level. An area to the south-east contains an oval-shaped prospect mound measuring 25m x 15m and 3m high with a shallow ditch on its south-eastern side. The mound formed part of the formal garden laid out in the construction of the mansion in the 17th century. To the east is a fishpond, originally belonging to the abbey but adapted as a17th century garden feature. The fishpond measures 140 x 12m at its widest point, narrowing to 4m wide at its eastern end. (15) |