Egglestone Abbey, North East England

This remote, serene and isolated little Abbey leaves us few records of its origins.  It was founded in 1195, but we do not know the identity of its founder, as none of the foundation charters survive.  It was created as a Premonstratensian Order, of which there are few in England. It struggled with poverty throughout its existence, which was helped in part, by its close location to the Scottish border. The lands on which Egglestone stands, were given to the Canons by Ralph de Multon, who may have been its founder, but the lands he gave were rented, and he was fined 15 marks for doing so. The location was chosen for its isolation, as well as its local supply of stone and its proximity to water. Construction began at the end of the 12th Century, with the church being the first building to be built in stone. The Canons were housed in temporary quarters during this time, until the domestic ranges could be added. The Abbey church was dedicated to St. Mary and St. John the Evangelist.

Not long after its the church was completed, it was widened and its walls were raised.  It is not known if a larger building was required, or simply desired. The intention of monastic communities was that they would be entirely self-sufficient. This meant having many domestic buildings to provide for these needs, but only the ruins of an Abbey mill survive above ground today. The whole of the site would have originally been bounded by a precinct wall, which would have been entered through a gatehouse, both of which have long since disappeared.   

The Premonstratensian Order was comprised only of ordained Priests. This is in direct contrast to other orders, where monks were not necessarily Priests. The minimum number of Canons needed to found a house, was the apostolic number of twelve, plus the Abbot who headed the monastery.   They were helped by lay brothers, who were not Canons, but who shared the monastic life.  There would also have been lay servants, who would help with the manual work, as well as some novices and trainees.  In the Premonstratensian Order, each monastery was also in a ‘circary’, meaning that each year, two Abbots from other houses, would visit and report back to the Abbot of Premontre, who was the head of the Premonstratensian’s, in Premontre, in north-eastern France. These visits would usually be from the Abbot at the ‘mother house’ where the Order was originally established from.  

The Premonstratensian’s were a strict order, who believed in poverty. Any decoration, even in the church, such as paintings and carvings, would not have been elaborate. The cloister area was unglazed and unheated, and used as a private area for the Canons to use for their writing, study and meditation.  The word ‘cloister’ comes from the latin word ‘claustrum’, meaning door-lock or bolt.  

When the Abbot Adam, of Dryburgh, visited shortly after the order was established he wrote: 

            ‘there is too little love and tenderness in those sitting round, no pity or compassion whatever in the superior presiding, but there is a very great discomfort and unrest in my heart as I sit there’.

A small vaulted room still stands, which was either an early warming room for the monastery, where the only fire of the Abbey, other than that in the kitchen or infirmary, would have been located.  The fire was kept burning from November to Easter.  This room may have also been the infirmary, where the old and sick members of the community would be housed. 

Little remains of the church today, except the gothic window, in front of which the High Altar once stood.  The remains of the tomb of Sir Ralph Bowes stand at the crossing.  Sir Ralph died in 1482, shortly after making his will.  

Even though the Monastery had running water, the garderobes would have been cleaned out by hand, there were no flushing toilets. Nothing was wasted in the middle ages, and the faeces would have been used as fertilizer.  The drains may have been intentionally allowed to build up for this reason.  Pottery urinals may also have been used, to collect urine for use in tanning, and in making vellum, which would have been used in monastic books. 

Egglestone was always a small and remote house, and while it probably didn’t get many visitors, it was still expected to offer hospitality to any that did arrive. The rules stated that:

‘in every church of the order hospitality shall be observed and alms shall be distributed according to the resources of the place.’ 

Several of the Canons at Egglestone, were also vicars of parish churches.  A list of the Canons survives from 1491, and shows that only the Abbot and six Canons were continually in residence, with eight others serving in churches. A number of Canons also served as Chantry Priests.  Chantries were personal chapels, usually founded by wealthy nobles, where masses and prayers could be said for the founder. 

Even when the Abbey was given lands, things did not always go smoothly.  In a Charter of 1205, Gilbert de Leya gave the Manor of Kilvington to the Canons of Egglestone Abbey, for the support of nine more Canons.  However, in 1248, Gilbert’s son, Philip de Leya, brought a claim against the Abbey in court, claiming that the Abbot had refused to admit the new Canons who he had chosen to replace the original nine.  The Abbot produced Gilbert’s Charter, which made no mention of new Canons.  Philip continued to argue, that the Charter drawn by the former Abbot, backed his claims.  It was decided that Philip’s Charter was invalid, because it was made without agreement of the Chapter, and the jury ruled in favour of the Abbot. This was not the end though, as Philip, in 1251, forced the Abbot to acknowledge that eight Canons and a clerk, should pray for the souls of Philip and his family, in the Abbey church forever, and on the death of each Canon, he was allowed to nominate a replacement. 

Egglestone struggled to maintain the minimum number of twelve Canons, and in the 13th Century, there was discussion about reducing it’s status to that of a Priory.  It did manage to retain it’s Abbey status however.  Various Archbishops of York attempted to help the Abbey’s finances, by given it parish churches, as it would receive a pension from each church it possessed.  Money was also donated by pilgrims, and in 1398, Pope Boniface VIII, provided an incentive to visit the Abbey by offering absolution of all sins, to anyone visiting on principal religious feast days.  The financial situation still never seemed to recover. Part of the reason for this, was that it was so close to the Scottish border, that the Abbey’s lands were vulnerable to attack.  When the Scots attacked in 1315, the Canons losses were so serious, that their taxes were reduced from £63 to £30.  In 1327, it was said that their lands and goods had been so:

            ‘destroyed, burned and wasted by frequent invasions of the Scots that nothing taxable is found in this place from which any tenth can be demanded or raised.’ 

In 1535, the King’s Commissioners recorded the net income of Egglestone, at only just over £36. After the Dissolution, the site was granted to Robert Strelly, who converted some of the buildings into a residence.  The property remained in his family until the 17th Century, but the buildings were neglected and in a poor state, as early as 1565, when Ralph Rokeby wrote of them:

            ‘utter ruine and desolation… the ancestors of the howses of Bowes and Rokeby lye without the doors in the demesnes of Eggleston Abbey, where yet their gravestones appeare old and weatherbeaten’.

The Abbey’s stone was being used to pave the stable yard of Rokeby Hall, right up to the time that Major Henry Edward Morritt, placed the ruins in the guardianship of the State in 1925.  The site is now managed by English Heritage.