'Buildwas Abbey' is located along the banks of the
River Severn in
Buildwas,
Shropshire,
England, about two miles west of
Ironbridge.
Early history
The
Cistercian Abbey of St Mary and St Chad was founded in
1135 by
Roger de Clinton,
Bishop of Coventry (
1129–
1148) as a
Savignac monastery and was inhabited by a small community of monks from
Furness Abbey. The stone from which it was built was quarried in the nearby settlement of
Broseley.
The abbey's location near the border of
Wales meant it was destined to have a turbulent history. Welsh Princes and their followers regularly raided the Abbey, and on one occasion in
1406 raiders from
Powys even kidnapped the
abbot. This however paled in comparison to an event in
1342 where one of the Buildwas monks,
Thomas Tong, murdered his abbot, managed to evade arrest and then petitioned for re-instatement into the Cistercian order.
Closure
The abbey was finally closed in
1536 by the order of
Henry VIII during the
Dissolution of the Monasteries, whereupon the estate was granted to
Lord Powis.
Modern history
The abbots house and infirmary were later incorporated into the building of a private house in the 17th century for the Moseley family, although the remaining buildings are now in the care of
English Heritage and are open to the public, who can view the church which remains largely complete and unaltered since its original construction, although it is now without its roof.
The remains are considered to be among some of the best preserved twelfth-century examples of a Cistercian church in Britain.
External links
★
Buildwas Abbey (English Heritage website)
★
Adrian Fletcher’s Paradoxplace – Buildwas Abbey Pages – Photos
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