Bayham Old Abbey
Encyclopedia
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
property, located near Frant
Frant
-Demography:The population of Frant rose steadily from just under 1,100 in 1801 to a peak in 1891 of around 3,500. The records show a marked drop to 1,692 in 1901, but this is due to the transfer of the Broadwater Down parish to Tunbridge Wells that took place in 1894...
, East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
, England. Founded c. 1207 through a combination of the failing Premonstratensian
Premonstratensian
The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré, also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines, or in Britain and Ireland as the White Canons , are a Catholic religious order of canons regular founded at Prémontré near Laon in 1120 by Saint Norbert, who later became Archbishop of Magdeburg...
monasteries of Otham
Otham
Otham is a village near the town of Maidstone in Kent, England.The 12th century parish church of St Nicholas is a Grade I listed building. The vicar is Revd Andrew Sewell. Otham also has a number of mediaeval houses which are listed including Otham Manor , Synyards and Stoneacre...
and Brockley
Brockley
Brockley is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is situated south-east of Charing Cross.It is covered by the London postcode districts SE4 and SE14.-History:...
, Bayham functioned as an abbey
Abbey
An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...
until its dissolution
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of 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...
in the 16th century. The ruins were partially modified in the late 18th century, to provide a better landscape feature
Folly
In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but either suggesting by its appearance some other purpose, or merely so extravagant that it transcends the normal range of garden ornaments or other class of building to which it belongs...
during landscaping of the new Bayham Abbey mansion park, and were donated to the state in 1961.
Location
Bayham Abbey lies within the valley of the River TeiseRiver Teise
The River Teise is a tributary of the River Medway in Kent, England. It begins in Dunorlan Park in Tunbridge Wells. and flows eastwards past Bayham Abbey and then through Lamberhurst...
. Premonstratensian canons often preferred secluded areas for their monasteries, and Bayham was such a location. The river provided a water supply and adequate drainage. As Bayham was founded through the conjunction of two abbeys with different father houses - Sulby
Sulby, Northamptonshire
Sulby is a hamlet and civil parish in the Daventry district of the county of Northamptonshire in England.Sulby Reservoir lies to the south of the settlement.Rene Payne bought Sulby Hall in 1792.-External links:* parish meeting...
having founded Brockley and perhaps Durford being the father house of Otham - Prémontré Abbey
Prémontré Abbey
Prémontré Abbey was the mother house of the Premonstratensian Order and was located at Prémontré about twelve miles west of Laon, département of Aisne, France.-History:...
took the paternity of the new monastery.
The Abbey today
The abbey ruins are currently maintained by English Heritage. They largely consist of partial walls, though the room layouts can still be seen, and there remains many examples of ornate capitals and other carved stonework; including stone frameworks from the three giant windows comprising the nave. The quality of the work is particularly fine for a late thirteenth-century Premonstratensian abbey.The abbey is sited on the Kent/Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
border and is presumed to have had an entrance in each county. The ruins of a gatehouse, known as the Kentish gate, is situated nearby on the grounds. No trace has been found of the corresponding Sussex gate. Other buildings, normally associated with abbeys, such as stables and barns, are yet to be located.
Abbey history
Bayham abbey was built from local sandstone in the first half of the 13th century by Premonstratensian canons. By the 15th century the original design had been enlarged with new transeptTransept
For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...
s, though the original transepts are still visible within the structure.
In the Abbey lived Monks.
The abbey was amongst the first to be dissolved
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of 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...
, in 1538. Once Bayham was under the King's control, it was leased to Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu
Viscount Montagu
Viscount Montagu was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created on 2 September 1554 for Anthony Browne. It became extinct in 1797.The title Viscount Montagu was chosen from line of descent from John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu. His daughter Lucy Neville was the mother of Anthony Browne...
, until Queen Elizabeth
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
sold the estate outright. Following various changes in ownership, Bayham was finally sold to Sir John Pratt in 1714, and remained with that family until 1961, when it was donated to the English Heritage. A brief archaeological survey was published in Journal of the Society for Medieval Archaeology 10 (1966:181-182).
The Camden family, descended from the Pratts, built the Dower house (otherwise known as Bayham Old Abbey House), on the estate as the old residence. The new grounds were landscaped by Humphry Repton
Humphry Repton
Humphry Repton was the last great English landscape designer of the eighteenth century, often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown; he also sowed the seeds of the more intricate and eclectic styles of the 19th century...
, who included within his plans the old abbey, which Samuel Hieronymus Grimm
Samuel Hieronymus Grimm
Samuel Hieronymus Grimm was an 18th century Swiss topographical artist who worked in oils , watercolours, and pen and ink media.-Life and work:...
had sketched about 1785, emphasising the grand scale and picturesque character of its ivy-clad walls. Some modifications were made to the abbey during this time, memorialised in one of Repton's most complete "Red Books", with the inscription "Application of Gardening and Architecture united, in the formation of a new place".
In 1872, the Camden family moved to the other side of the Teise valley, into the newly built Bayham Abbey House. The abbey remains as a picturesque landscape feature, and has been used for family infant burials.