Venue Type & Location
Performance Spaces
Overview
Situated adjacent to the village of Whalley on the quiet banks of the River Calder, not far from Stonyhurst. The Cistercian abbey of Whalley was one of the last houses to be established in England. It was dissolved in 1537 and the last abbot executed. A separate lodging on the E side of the abbey was built by Abbot Paslew, replacing the earlier abbot's house in the infirmary block. Built around a central court with the dining hall wing on the W side, beyond the entrance parlour.
Performance History
Whalley Abbey bursars' accounts survive for 1485--1537, with numerous visits by entertainers recorded, although seldom with their patrons identified. The abbot's house is not identified as the performance venue but it is a probable location for at least some of the performances. Both the original 15th c. and now ruinous 16th c. rebuilt abbots' halls are likely. The later residents, the Assheton family, may also have hosted performances but their household records do not survive.
Current Status
History of the Venue
1296 Foundation stone for the abbey of Cistercian monks laid by Henry de Lacy, 9th Earl of Lincoln. 1440s Abbot's lodgings completed. 1507--37 Abbot's lodging reconstructed under Abbot John Paslew. 1537 Abbey's estates confiscated by the Crown. 1553 Estate was purchased by John Braddyll of Brockhall and Richard Assheton. Assheton took the monastic site and buildings. The abbot's lodging became the residence of the Assheton family. early 17th c. The abbot's house and most of the infirmary buildings were dismantled to their foundations. The present Jacobean residence was built over the E side of the lodgings. 1620s Ralph Assheton, newly created baronet, made Whalley his principal residence.
late 17th c. Most of the abbey church, dormitory and buildings on the S side of the cloister demolished. 18th c. Estate passed to the Curzon family by marriage. 1836 Sold to John Taylor of Moreton Hall in Whalley. mid-19th c. Significant alterations made to the manor house. ca. 1900 Sold to Sir John Travis Clegg. 1923 House and grounds bought by the diocese of Manchester. 1926 Sold to the newly created diocese of Blackburn as a centre of education.
Record Source
REED Lanc 128--44, 147
Patrons who owned this venue
[No data found.]
Bibliographic Sources
- Ashmore, Owen. A Guide to Whalley Abbey. Blackburn: Blackburn Diocesan Board of Finance, 1996
- Buck, Samuel, and Nathaniel Buck. [A Collection of Engravings of the Castles, Abbeys, and Towns in England and Wales]. 5 vols. London: The authors, 1726--52
- Champness, John. Lancashire's Architectural Heritage: An Anthology of Fine Buildings. Preston: Lancashire County Council Planning, 1988
- George, David, ed. Lancashire. Toronto, Buffalo, London: U of Toronto P, 1991
- Pevsner, Nikolaus. Lancashire: The Rural North. Harmondsworth, Midd: Penguin Books, 1969
- The Victoria History of the County of Lancaster. 8 vols. London: Archibald Constable, 1906--14