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4 unusual facts about Dissolution of the monasteries


Amaravati Buddhist Monastery

The mediaeval convent of St Margaret's, abolished by Henry VIII during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, was for centuries just 400 yards along the lane.

Andrew Corbet

His was the second generation of Corbets to attend the school, and his great-uncle Reginald Corbet, as recorder of Shrewsbury had played an important part in the agitation which led to its establishment, funded by property from the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

Henry Brinklow

For example, he reviled monasteries, but equally reviled the Dissolution of the Monasteries — despite also putting forward a "programme for full-scale redistribution of ecclesiastical wealth".

John Gostwick

During the Dissolution of the Monasteries he acquired a considerable number of other properties and in 1538 was one of the judges who sentenced the Abbot of Woburn to be hanged for refusing to sign the Oath of Supremacy.


Affpuddle

After the Dissolution the village became an estate of the Lawrence family, an ancestor of whom married the heiress of a branch of the Washington family, from another branch of which descended George Washington.

Ascott, Buckinghamshire

In the early 16th century the abbey (along with the manor of Wing) was seized by the Crown and given to Cardinal Wolsey, however not long after it was seized once again in the Dissolution of the Monasteries and given to Lord Dormer.

Biggin, Essex

From the 13th century until the dissolution, the manor was owned by the Cistercian Abbey of Stratford Langethorne.

Black Ladies Priory

In 1535, just before the Dissolution of the Monasteries the priory drew an income from lands and rents in Chillington and Horsebrook, both in Brewood parish, and in Bradley, Broom, Kidderminster, Albrighton, Dawley, and Tong: these were worth £11 1s.

Bolton, Northumberland

At the Dissolution of the Monasteries between 1536 and 1541, it came, with the manor and villa, into the possession of the Collingwoods of Eslington.

Bradenstoke

Having fallen into disrepair after the Dissolution of the monasteries, it was dismantled in 1930 to provide parts of a renovation of St Donat's Castle, Wales, which had been bought by William Randolph Hearst.

Canterbury College, Oxford

Shortly after the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII, the college's hall, chapel and other buildings were acquired by Christ Church.

Christopher Barnewall

His father, a close associate of Thomas Cromwell, was a key figure in the Irish administration between about 1535 and 1542: initially opposed to the Dissolution of the Monasteries, he turned in time to profit handsomely, acquiring Grace Dieu in Dublin and Knocktopher in Kilkenny.

Cluniac priories in Britain

In England the Cluniac houses numbered thirty-five at the time of Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century.

Cowdray House

In 1536, following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Sir William was given the nearby Easebourne Priory and other properties, whilst in 1538 his half-brother and heir who later inherited Cowdray, Anthony Browne, received Battle Abbey.

Dulwich Wood

By 1605 Edward Alleyn was a wealthy man and for £5,000 (a large amount in those days), was able to buy the Manor of Dulwich from the Calton family, who had owned it since the dissolution of the monasteries.

Durham Cathedral Priory

Historically, Durham Priory was one of the most important land owners in County Durham along with the Bishop of Durham until the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII.

Frithuswith

St Frideswide's Priory, a medieval Augustinian house (some of the buildings of which were incorporated into Christ Church, Oxford following the dissolution of the monasteries) is claimed to be the site of her abbey and relics.

Great Missenden

Missenden Abbey, founded in 1133 as an Augustinian monastery, was ruined following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and the remains were incorporated into a Georgian mansion which is now a conference centre.

Guild of the Holy Cross

The Guild survived the investigations of the commissioners established by Henry VIII in 1545 to examine the religious endowments that remained after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, but was suppressed along with its associated chantries under Edward VI in 1547.

Horninghold

In about 1076 he gave the parish to the priory of Belvoir where it remained until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th Century.

Horton in Ribblesdale

During the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the monks' interests at Horton in Ribblesdale was attributed with an annual income of £32 and 5 shillings; and was given to the Earl of Lennox.

Itchen Stoke and Ovington

The revenues from the manor at Ovington supported Itchen's nuns until 1284 when it was sold to the monks of St. Swithun's Priory, Winchester Cathedral; on the Dissolution of the monasteries, it was transferred to the newly formed Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral.

John Williams, 1st Baron Williams of Thame

As Treasurer of the King's Jewels, Williams was heavily involved in the Dissolution of the Monasteries, during which he obtained Thame Abbey and its lands.

Knocktopher

Following the implementation in Ireland of the dissolution of the monasteries in 1542, it was acquired by the Kingsland branch of the Barnewall family, later Viscount Barnewall.

Little Dunmow

The monastic buildings stood to the southwest of the church but, along with much of the Priory, were razed to the ground after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, when the priory site, with the manors of Little Dunmow and Clopton Hall, were granted to the patron of the priory, Robert Radcliffe, 1st Earl of Sussex.

Loddington

Loddington Hall, the local manor house, was first recorded in 1475 and after the Dissolution of the Monasteries became the property of Oliver Cromwell, whose son sold it to Sir John Pretyman, 1st Baronet.

Newton Arlosh

In ruins from the Dissolution until the 19th century, it was repaired and extended in 1844 by Sara Losh.

Penally Abbey

In 1301, the rectory was occupied by the nuns of Aconbury and for some time it housed eight nuns and their prioress until the Dissolution of the monasteries in 1534 when the property and lands were seized by the Church of Wales.

Rashleigh family

After his father Phillip Rashleigh purchased the manor of Trenant in 1545, Phillip moved his family from Devon to Cornwall to take advantage of the dissolution of the monasteries by buying and re-selling the land acquired around Fowey, it was from this land that John Rashleigh commenced building Menabilly from land acquired in Fowey (from which Menabilly was later completed in its construction by his son Jonathan Rashleigh).

Risinghoe Castle

It was probably obtained by Warden Abbey with the grange of Risinghoe and Puttenhoe Manor, with which it was conferred on Sir John Gostwick at the Dissolution (1538–1541), afterwards passing, with the rest of their property in Goldington, to John Russell, Duke of Bedford.

Sandsfoot Castle

Evidence suggests that some of the stone used in the construction possibly came from earlier local ecclesiastical buildings that were destroyed after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, notably the Cistercian monastery Bindon Abbey, near Wool.

St. Michael and All Angels Church, Bassett

After the dissolution of the monasteries in the 1540s, the manor was acquired by Thomas Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton.

St. Pantaleon's Church, Cologne

The remains of Saint Alban probably ended up in the church after the Dissolution of the Monasteries by King Henry VIII of England in the 16th Century.

Suppression of Monasteries

The Dissolution of the Monasteries was the administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their income, disposed of their assets and provided for their former members.

Swythamley Hall

The manor of Swythamley was held by the Crown following the dissolution of Dieulacres Abbey and thereafter had several owners.

The Abbey, Beckington

The Abbey, Beckington in Somerset, UK was built as a monastic grange and also used as a college for priests; the building was begun in 1502, but after the Dissolution of the Monasteries it became a private house.

Walden Abbey

After the dissolution of Walden during the reign of Henry VIII, the abbey property was purchased by Sir Thomas Audley, who built his house Audley End there.


see also

Glastonbury chair

Arthur perished on Glastonbury Tor in 1539, hung, drawn and quartered alongside his master, Richard Whiting, the last Abbot of Glastonbury, during the dissolution of the monasteries.

Great Cefnyberen

He was Keeper of the Jewels to Henry VIII and was a close associate to Thomas Cromwell in the dissolution of the Monasteries and the sequestration of their property, becoming Treasurer of the Court of Augmentations.