Venue Type & Location
Overview
The Benedictine abbey of Bardney was located just E of the River Witham, in open countryside approximately 9 miles E of Lincoln. The abbot's house lay to the W of the church. The early 20th c. excavations are now covered by grass and nothing of substance can be seen. In 1964 Pevsner and Harris reported as follows: 'All that is visible of the venerable abbey is a ditch, remains of one compound nave pier, bumps where others had been, something of the nave wall with traces of the middle doorway, and many hillocks of no precise message' (Lincolnshire 112).
Performance History
A few early 16th c. cellarers' accounts remain to show that Bardney Abbey was visited by touring entertainers. It is likely that the abbot's hall would have been used as the performance venue.
Current Status
History of the Venue
late 7th c. Founded by King Aethelred and Queen Osthryd of Mercia. ca. 870 Destroyed by Danish raids. ca. 1087 Refounded by Gilbert de Ghent as a Benedictine 'alien' priory. 1115 Raised to the rank of free abbey. late 12th c. Chapter house, refectory, W range and much of the work on the church completed. 13th c. Cellarer's building on the W side of the cloister converted as the abbot's house. New guest house and infirmary built. late 13th c. Church completed and dorter rebuilt. 14th c. Gatehouse rebuilt and guest house reduced in size. ca. 1437 Buildings in disrepair. 15th c. Renovations made to the abbot's house, large square kitchen and new inner gateway built. 1538 Dissolved. Monastic buildings and land acquired by Sir Robert Trywhitt who converted the abbot's house as a splendid residence. The cloister was turned into a walled garden but the church was demolished and the rest left to decay.
early 18th c. Tyrwhitt's house and the rest of the site derelict. 1909--14 Excavations uncovered much of the plan of the church and cloistral ranges. 1933 Exposed ruins covered for protection. 1974 Site acquired by the Jews' Court Trust.
Record Source
REED Lincolnshire 1.343--6
Patrons who owned this venue
[No data found.]
Bibliographic Sources
- Alexander, Jennifer S. ‘Bardney Abbey, Lincolnshire: Benedictine with a Cistercian Flavour.’. Turnhout: Brepols, 2004 Perspectives for an Architecture of Solitude: Essays on Cistercians, Art and Architecture in Honour of Peter Fergusson 301--11 .
- Allen, Thomas. The History of the County of Lincoln, from the Earliest Period to the Present Time. London & Lincoln: John Saunders, Junior, 1834
- Brakspear, Harold. 'Bardney Abbey.'. Archaeological Journal 79 (1922): 1--92.
- Page, William, ed. The Victoria History of the County of Lincoln. 2 vols. London: Constable & Co., 1906
- Pevsner, Nikolaus, and John Harris. Lincolnshire. 1964. London: Penguin Books, 1998