More information : (SE 5501 7885). The abbot's lodging at Byland Abbey is a free-standing building that lies south of the east range. Its plan follows the typical arrangement of a medieval hall, comprising a main hall of 13th-century date abutted to the west by a cross-wing. The hall was originally much longer, but was reduced in size by the insertion of another cross-wing of late date at the east end. Adjoining the east side of the later wing is the oldest part of the range: a vaulted undercroft built c 1190 which has traces of an earlier building incorporated into its west wall. A now vanished building which was traced during excavation [by Sir Charles Peers in the 1920s], projected eastwards from the south-east corner of the block.
When the monastery was dissolved, this range of buildings was allowed to stand intact and was given over to the use of a farmer, but by the end of the 18th century had fallen into ruin. (1)
A survey of the abbey taken at the Dissolution states that the close containing the abbey ruins included 'edifices sufficient for a fermar' (2a), but the only evidence that these edifices survived as long as auth 1 suggests is an estate map of c1730 (2b) which shows a roofed building in the correct plan position for the lodging. This building is portrayed in elevation on the map, and has faint indications of a plat-band between the ground and first floors. Such architectural treatment is typical of the 17th century, raising the possibility that the building was rebuilt or embellished after the Dissolution and, for a while at least, enjoyed higher status than simply a farmhouse: it may even be the 'gentry house near the ruins' recorded as in the possession of Mr Vaughan in 1616 (2c). It may be that either Sir William Pickering or Sir Thomas Wotton, the first and second owners of the post-monastic estate between 1540 and 1630, converted the lodging as an occasional secondary home following the Dissolution (2d).
The lodging forms part of RSM 13279 (2e).
Recorded from documentary evidence as part of the EH: Byland Abbey Survey. See plans and report (2d) in the NMR for further information. (2) |