Flaxley Abbey
Encyclopedia
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
in England, now a private residence, in the Forest of Dean
Forest of Dean
The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. The forest is a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and north, the River Severn to the south, and the City of Gloucester to the east.The...
, Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
.
History
Flaxley Abbey was founded in 1148 by Roger Fitzmiles, 2nd Earl of HerefordRoger Fitzmiles, 2nd Earl of Hereford
Roger Fitzmiles, 2nd Earl of Hereford, was born some time before 1125 and, according to the Hereford Cathedral Book of Obits, died on 22 September 1155...
. It was dissolved during the Dissolution of the monasteries
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 1536—7 and its lands and manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
were granted to Sir William Kingston.
It was purchased in 1642 by the London merchant James Boevey, with his half-brother William. Later residents included Catherina Boevey
Catherina Boevey
-Life:Catherina was born in London in 1669; her father was John Riches, a wealthy merchant originally of Amsterdam, her mother was a daughter of Sir Bernard de Gomme, also of Holland, surveyor of ordnance to Charles II, and delineator of the maps of Naseby, &c. Catharina was a great beauty. In The...
, an inheritance from her short marriage to William Boevey, and the house passed to Thomas Crawley (later styled Crawley-Boevey) at her death in 1727.