Bermondsey Abbey
Encyclopedia
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
monastery. Most widely known as an 11th-century foundation, it had a precursor mentioned in the early 8th century, and was centred on what is now Bermondsey Square
Bermondsey Square
Bermondsey Square is located on Tower Bridge Road in Bermondsey, part of the London Borough of Southwark, in south London, England. The location was formerly the site of the 11th century Bermondsey Abbey....
, the site of Bermondsey Market
Bermondsey Market
Officially called New Caledonian Market, Bermondsey Market is an antiques market located at Bermondsey Square on Tower Bridge Road in Bermondsey, part of the London Borough of Southwark, in South London, England...
, Bermondsey
Bermondsey
Bermondsey is an area in London on the south bank of the river Thames, and is part of the London Borough of Southwark. To the west lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe, and to the south, Walworth and Peckham.-Toponomy:...
in the London Borough of Southwark
London Borough of Southwark
The London Borough of Southwark is a London borough in south east London, England. It is directly south of the River Thames and the City of London, and forms part of Inner London.-History:...
, southeast London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Foundation
A monastery is known to have existed at Bermondsey before 715 AD, when it was a SurreySurrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
colony of the important Mercia
Mercia
Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
n monastery of Medeshamstede
Medeshamstede
Medeshamstede was the name of Peterborough in the Anglo-Saxon period. It was the site of a monastery founded around the middle of the 7th century, which was an important feature in the kingdom of Mercia from the outset. Little is known of its founder and first abbot, Sexwulf, though he was himself...
, later known as Peterborough
Peterborough Cathedral
Peterborough Cathedral, properly the Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew – also known as Saint Peter's Cathedral in the United Kingdom – is the seat of the Bishop of Peterborough, dedicated to Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Andrew, whose statues look down from the...
. Though surviving only in a copy written at Peterborough in the 12th century, a letter of Pope Constantine
Pope Constantine
Pope Constantine was pope from 708 to 715. With the exception of Antipope Constantine, he was the only pope to take such a "quintessentially" Eastern name of an emperor...
(708-715) grants privileges to a monastery at Vermundesei. It is likely that this monastery continued, probably as a secular
Secular clergy
The term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or members of a religious order.-Catholic Church:In the Catholic Church, the secular clergy are ministers, such as deacons and priests, who do not belong to a religious order...
minster, at least until the 9th-century Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
invasions.
Nothing more is heard of any church at Bermondsey until 1082, when, according to the "Annales Monasterii de Bermundeseia", a monastery was founded there by one Alwinus Child, with royal licence. It is highly likely, given the trend to continuity of sacred sites, that this church was founded on the site of the earlier monastery. It is also possible that this foundation was a direct successor to the church last mentioned in the early 8th century.
Alwinus Child
Saint Saviour
-People:*Sanctus Salvator, a Latin dedication of churches or places to Jesus, translated in English as "Saint Saviour" or, more accurately, "Holy Saviour"*Saint Salvator of Horta, a Catalan saint*Saint Saviour -Schools:...
, is presumably identical with the 'new and handsome church' which appears in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
record for Bermondsey, in 1086. In effect, Domesday Book clarifies the "Annales"' mention of royal licence, since it records that the estate of Bermondsey was then held by King William the Conqueror, a small part being also in the hands of Robert, Count of Mortain
Robert, Count of Mortain
Robert, Count of Mortain, 1st Earl of Cornwall was a Norman nobleman and the half-brother of William I of England. Robert was the son of Herluin de Conteville and Herleva of Falaise and was full brother to Odo of Bayeux. The exact year of Robert's birth is unknown Robert, Count of Mortain, 1st...
, the king's half brother, and younger brother of Odo of Bayeux, then earl of Kent. Royal support for the new foundation continued with King William Rufus
William II of England
William II , the third son of William I of England, was King of England from 1087 until 1100, with powers over Normandy, and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending control into Wales...
' gift of the royal estate at Bermondsey, in either 1089 or 1090, and through further grants made, for example, by King Henry I
Henry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
in the 1120s and 1130s. It may be that the counts of Mortain also maintained an interest in the new monastery, since Count William of Mortain
William, Count of Mortain
William de Mortaigne, Count of Mortain, Earl of Cornwall was the son of Robert, Count of Mortain, the half-brother of William I of England...
became a monk there in 1140. Alwinus Child
The new monastery was established as an alien
Alien priory
Alien priories were religious establishments in England, such as a monastery or convent, which were under the control of another religious house outside of England...
, Cluniac prior
Prior
Prior is an ecclesiastical title, derived from the Latin adjective for 'earlier, first', with several notable uses.-Monastic superiors:A Prior is a monastic superior, usually lower in rank than an Abbot. In the Rule of St...
y through the arrival in 1089 of four monks from St Mary's of La Charité-sur-Loire
La Charité-sur-Loire
La Charité-sur-Loire is a commune in the Nièvre department in central France.-History:The town began as the first of the Cluniac priories on an island site in the Loire....
, apparently at the invitation of Archbishop Lanfranc
Lanfranc
Lanfranc was Archbishop of Canterbury, and a Lombard by birth.-Early life:Lanfranc was born in the early years of the 11th century at Pavia, where later tradition held that his father, Hanbald, held a rank broadly equivalent to magistrate...
of Canterbury. These were Peter, Richard, Osbert and Umbald, Peter becoming the first prior. The church remained a Cluniac priory until the late 14th century. In 1380 Richard Dunton, the first English prior, paid a fine of 200 marks (£133.33) to have Bermondsey's establishment naturalised: this protected it from actions taken against alien properties in time of war, but it also set the priory on the path to independent status as an abbey, divorced from both La Charité and Cluny, which it achieved in 1390.
Royal Connections
Both Catherine of ValoisCatherine of Valois
Catherine of France was the Queen consort of England from 1420 until 1422. She was the daughter of King Charles VI of France, wife of Henry V of Monmouth, King of England, mother of Henry VI, King of England and King of France, and through her secret marriage with Owen Tudor, the grandmother of...
, wife of Henry V
Henry V of England
Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422. He was the second monarch belonging to the House of Lancaster....
, and Elizabeth Woodville
Elizabeth Woodville
Elizabeth Woodville was Queen consort of England as the spouse of King Edward IV from 1464 until his death in 1483. Elizabeth was a key figure in the series of dynastic civil wars known as the Wars of the Roses. Her first husband, Sir John Grey of Groby was killed at the Second Battle of St Albans...
, wife of Edward IV
Edward IV of England
Edward IV was King of England from 4 March 1461 until 3 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death. He was the first Yorkist King of England...
, spent time at the Abbey following the deaths of their husbands. Catherine, also mother of Henry VI
Henry VI of England
Henry VI was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. Until 1437, his realm was governed by regents. Contemporaneous accounts described him as peaceful and pious, not suited for the violent dynastic civil wars, known as the Wars...
, was banished to the Abbey following her marriage to Owen Tudor
Owen Tudor
Sir Owen Meredith Tudor was a Welsh soldier and courtier, descended from a daughter of the Welsh prince Rhys ap Gruffudd, "Lord Rhys". However, Owen Tudor is particularly remembered for his role in founding England's Tudor dynasty – including his relationship with, and probable secret marriage to,...
in 1436; and, sometime around 12 February 1487, Elizabeth was forcibly registered as a boarder, receiving free hospitality as the widow of a descendant of the institution's founder. She died there on 8 June 1492, having seen her two sons, Edward V
Edward V of England
Edward V was King of England from 9 April 1483 until his deposition two months later. His reign was dominated by the influence of his uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who succeeded him as Richard III...
and Richard of Shrewsbury, 4th Duke of York, disappear in the Tower of London around 1483, and her daughter Elizabeth of York
Elizabeth of York
Elizabeth of York was Queen consort of England as spouse of King Henry VII from 1486 until 1503, and mother of King Henry VIII of England....
marry Henry VII
Henry VII of England
Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....
, a Tudor, three years later.
Land and estates
Bermondsey rapidly acquired a valuable estate, both temporal and spiritual.In 1103 and 1104 it acquired from Henry I his interest in Southwark to the west of Borough High Street (Stane Street) just to the south of the ancient borough, stretching over to Lambeth and to the south to Walworth. This became known as the King's Manor, Southwark
King's Manor, Southwark
The King's Manor - formally 'The City of London’s King's Manor of the Town and Borough of Southwark' - is an institution of the City of London which is not a Livery Company as it is territorially rather than trade based, being the organisation of the Juror freemen of the Court Leet...
after its acquisition by the City of London in 1550. In 1122 it was given the church of St George the Martyr
St George the Martyr Southwark
St George the Martyr is a church in the historic Borough district of south London. It lies within the modern day London Borough of Southwark on Borough High Street at the junction with Long Lane, Marshalsea Road, and Tabard Street....
; Long Lane
Long Lane, Southwark
Long Lane is a major road in Southwark, south London, England.At the northwest end is a complicated junction with Borough High Street, Marshalsea Road, Tabard Street, and Great Dover Street. The historic St George the Martyr church, with Dickensian connections, is at this junction, now standing on...
led northwest from the Abbey to the High Street
Borough High Street
Borough High Street is a main street in Southwark, London running south-west from London Bridge, forming part of the A3 road, which runs from London to Portsmouth.- Overview :...
by the church to connect the two estates.
In 1291, temporalities (such as landed estates) were valued at almost £229, and spiritualities (such as advowson
Advowson
Advowson is the right in English law of a patron to present or appoint a nominee to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, a process known as presentation. In effect this means the right to nominate a person to hold a church office in a parish...
s) at just over £50. The Valor Ecclesiasticus
Valor Ecclesiasticus
The Valor Ecclesiasticus was a survey of the finances of the church in England, Wales and English controlled parts of Ireland made in 1535 on the orders of Henry VIII....
of 1535 put the abbey's clear annual value at a little over £474.
The estate ranged widely, including properties in Surrey, Leicestershire, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Kent.
The manor of Charlton
Charlton, London
Charlton is a district of south London, England, and part of the London Borough of Greenwich. It is located east-southeast of Charing Cross. Charlton next Woolwich was an ancient parish in the county of Kent, which became part of the metropolitan area of London in 1855. It is home to Charlton...
, then in Kent, was given by Bishop Robert Bloet
Robert Bloet
Robert Bloet was a medieval English bishop and a Chancellor of England. Born into a noble Norman family, he became a royal clerk under King William I of England. Under William I's son and successor King William II, Bloet was first named chancellor then appointed to the see of Lincoln...
of Lincoln in 1093. In 1268, Bermondsey was granted a Monday market at Charlton, as well as an annual fair of three days, centred on Trinity Sunday, the eighth Sunday after Easter.
Land in Dulwich
Dulwich
Dulwich is an area of South London, England. The settlement is mostly in the London Borough of Southwark with parts in the London Borough of Lambeth...
and elsewhere was given by Henry I
Henry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
in 1127.
Dissolution
After the Dissolution of the MonasteriesDissolution 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...
under Henry VIII, the abbey was handed over by the last abbot to the king. Henry granted the property and its lands to Sir Robert Southwell
Robert Southwell (sheriff)
Sir Robert Southwell was an English civil servant during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary I. He was elected Member of Parliament from Kent in October 1553 and in 1555. In January-February 1554 Southwell, then the High Sheriff of Kent, was one of the key loyalist officers engaged...
. Southwell sold the buildings to Sir Thomas Pope
Thomas Pope
Sir Thomas Pope , founder of Trinity College, Oxford, was born at Deddington, near Banbury, Oxfordshire, probably in 1507, for he was about sixteen years old when his father, a yeoman farmer, died in 1523....
, founder of Trinity College, Oxford
Trinity College, Oxford
The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope , or Trinity College for short, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It stands on Broad Street, next door to Balliol College and Blackwells bookshop,...
. Sir Thomas broke up the abbey, pulling down a number of buildings and erecting a house on the property. He then sold it back to Southwell who later sold it on to a London goldsmith.
Archaeology
The site at Bermondsey Square is currently being redeveloped with the construction of buildings. This has provided PCA an opportunity to undertake a number of excavations on the site along Abbey Street, most recently in early 2006. Another part of the site is to be excavated along Tower Bridge Road.Reports
The report for the current dig is not online as of March 2006 but should be published here.- TQ 3370 7936 Bermondsey Square, SE1; (David Divers & Kevin Wooldridge); evaluation; September – November 1998; London Borough of Southwark; BYQ98
- TQ 3330 7936 Bermondsey Square, SE1; (Chris Mayo); evaluation; 15 July – 16 August 2002; BYQ98