Calder Abbey
Encyclopedia
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
was a Savigniac monastery founded in 1134 by Ranulph de Gernon, 2nd Earl of Chester
Ranulph de Gernon, 2nd Earl of Chester
Ranulf II was an Anglo-Norman potentate who inherited the honour of the palatine county of Chester upon the death of his father Ranulf le Meschin, 3rd Earl of Chester...
and moved to this site following a refoundation in 1142. It became Cistercian in 1148. It is near to the village of Calder Bridge.
History
Ranulph de Gernon (also known as Ranulph de Meschines) founded the abbey on 10 January 1134, and gave a site and a mill to the monks. It was a wooden building and occupied by twelve Savigniac monks from Furness AbbeyFurness Abbey
Furness Abbey, or St. Mary of Furness is a former monastery situated on the outskirts of the English town of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. The abbey dates back to 1123 and was once the second wealthiest and most powerful Cistercian monastery in the country, behind only Fountains Abbey in North...
under the abbot Gerold. Only four years later, in the midst of the political instability following the death of Henry I, David King of Scots sent Scottish raiders under William Fitz Duncan to raid the northern English counties. Calder Abbey was one of the victims, and the Scots raided they despoiled the Abbey and drove out the monks. This, and the poor endowment, led the monks to abandon the site, and they sought sanctuary at Furness Abbey. However as Abbot Gerold would not resign his abbacy, a dispute arose and they were obliged to leave. They started a wandering life, first to Hood near Thirsk, then to Old Byland, near Rievaulx Abbey
Rievaulx Abbey
Rievaulx Abbey is a former Cistercian abbey headed by the Abbot of Rievaulx. It is located in Rievaulx , near Helmsley in North Yorkshire, England.It was one of the wealthiest abbeys in England and was dissolved by Henry VIII of England in 1538...
, and finally to Stocking where they finally settled and built the great Byland Abbey
Byland Abbey
Byland Abbey is a ruined abbey and a small village in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England at .-History:It was founded as a Savigniac abbey in January 1135 and was absorbed by the Cistercian order in 1147. It wasn't an easy start for the community who had had to move five times before...
. However, the monks were worried that Furness would continue to exercise control, and after Gerold travelled to Sauvigny in France to put his case, they were released from the juristriction of Furness in 1142.
Meanwhile back at Calder, a second attempt at colonisation was made from Furness in about 1142 under Abbot Hardred, and this time they had the protection of Fitz Duncan. The Sauvigniac order became Cisterian in 1148 when the two orders were amalgamated, and Calder likewise was obliged to follow.
By 1180 a stone church had been built of which the west door is the main survivor today. Most of the rest of building was rebuilt in 1220 in the early English style by Thomas de Multon of Egremont.
The house was not rich, in 1535 the annual net income was only £50. At the 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...
, the only recorded relic in the monastery's possession was that of a girdle
Girdle
A girdle is a garment that encircles the lower torso, perhaps extending below the hips, and worn often for support. The word girdle originally meant a belt. In modern English, the term girdle is most commonly used for a form of women's foundation wear that replaced the corset in popularity...
(a belt) claimed to have belonged to the Virgin Mary.
In 1535 an unfavourable report was made against the abbey and its community by the King's commissioners (though their views are often suspected to be biased and dubiously motivated).
The abbey was surrendered in 1536 by the last abbot, Richard Ponsonby.
Post-dissolution
At the Dissolution Henry VIII gave the abbey to Sir Thomas LeighThomas Legh (lawyer)
Sir Thomas Legh was an English jurist and diplomat, a principal agent of Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell in the Dissolution of the Monasteries.-Life:...
, who pulled off the roof and sold it and anything else he could and reduced the church to a ruin. Ownership passed through many secular hands, in which it still remains.
Much of the cloister
Cloister
A cloister is a rectangular open space surrounded by covered walks or open galleries, with open arcades on the inner side, running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth...
buildings remain either incorporated into Calder Abbey House, now a largely early-nineteenth century structure that is still a private residence, or in adjoining ruins, such as the chapter house
Chapter house
A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room attached to a cathedral or collegiate church in which meetings are held. They can also be found in medieval monasteries....
. It is now a picturesque ruin, no doubt retained by early residents of the newly formed mansion as an ornamental feature. The Abbey and grounds are private, and not open to the public, and new trees obscure much of the view from the surrounding land.
The Monk's Bridge
The Monk's Bridge, as it is still called, on Cold Fell, built by the monks of Calder, is the oldest packhorse bridgePackhorse bridge
A packhorse bridge is a bridge intended to carry packhorses across a river or stream. Typically a packhorse bridge consists of one or more narrow masonry arches, and has low parapets so as not to interfere with the horse's panniers.Packhorse bridges were often built on the trade routes that...
in Cumbria; it spans Friar Gill.. Also known as "Matty Benn's bridge", this is still in use today and is open to the public.