Muchelney Abbey
{{Short description|English Heritage property}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox monastery
| name = Muchelney Abbey
| native_name =
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| image = Muchelney Parish church, abbey foreground ruins.jpg
| alt = Stone building with square tower. In the foreground are low walls of the ruins among the grass.
| caption = The Church of St Peter and St Paul in the background. In the foreground are the ruins of the main abbey building.
| full =
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| order = Benedictine
| established = 10th century
| disestablished = 1538
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| churches =
| founder = Cynewulf, Centwine, Ine, Æthelstan and Æthelred
| abbot =
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| location = Muchelney, Somerset, England
| map_type = Somerset
| coord = {{Coord|51|01|13|N|02|48|57|W|region:GB-SOM_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
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Muchelney Abbey is an English Heritage property in the village of Muchelney in the Somerset Levels, England. The site consists of ruined walls showing the layout of the abbey buildings constructed from the 7th to 16th centuries, and the remaining intact Abbot's House. It is next to the parish church in which some of the fabric of the abbey has been reused.
It comprises the remains and foundations of a medieval Benedictine abbey, the site of an earlier Anglo-Saxon abbey, and an early Tudor house dating from the 16th century, formerly the lodgings of the resident Abbot, which is now a Grade I listed building.{{NHLE|desc=The Abbot's House, Muchelney Abbey|num=1236790|access-date=22 June 2014}} The ruins of the abbey have been designated as a scheduled monument.{{National Heritage List for England |num=1006230 |desc=Muchelney Abbey|access-date=5 April 2015}}{{cite web |title=Muchelney Abbey |url=http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/54318 |website=Somerset Historic Environment Record |publisher=Somerset County Council |access-date=23 June 2014 |archive-date=3 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003111456/http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/54318 |url-status=live }}
The abbey was founded in the 7th or 8th century, damaged by Viking raids and rebuilt and refounded in the 10th century. It owned and managed local land. The buildings were expanded from the 12th to 16th centuries until its dissolution in 1538. Most of the buildings were demolished and the stone used in local buildings, although the Abbot's House and reredorter survive. Some of the tiles and other decorative features from the monastic church were reused in the adjacent parish Church of St Peter and St Paul. Since 1927 the ruins have been in public ownership.
Toponymy
The name derives from two elements: {{langx|ang|micel|italics=yes}} 'big, great', and Anglian: {{lang|fy|ēg}}, 'an island'. The second element frequently refers to 'dry ground surrounded by marsh' in ancient place names.{{cite web |title=Mulcheney |website=Key to English Place-Names |publisher=University of Nottingham |url=http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Somerset/Muchelney |access-date=18 August 2021 |archive-date=19 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819125258/http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Somerset/Muchelney |url-status=live }} Compare Athelney, and Isleworth Ait and Chiswick Eyot on the Thames.
History
The site of the Abbey was effectively an island in the marshy and frequently flooded Somerset Levels. There is believed to have been a religious building erected on the site as early as 693, with a charter being granted by Cynewulf in 762,{{PastScape|mname=Muchelney Abbey|mnumber=193791|access-date=24 June 2014}}{{sfn|Adkins|Adkins|1992|pp=88-90}} although the Benedictine monks were not established there until the 10th century. Viking raids in the area damaged some of the fabric of the abbey and necessitated rebuilding.{{sfn|Quinn|2008|p=23}} The refounders of the Abbey are not completely clear; however in a document of 1535 (drawn up following the Valor Ecclesiasticus), Centwine, Ine, Æthelstan and Æthelred are claimed as founders.{{sfn|Dunning|2001|p=19}}{{cite web |title=Muchelney |url=http://www.kemble.asnc.cam.ac.uk/node/107 |website=Kemble The Anglo-Saxon Charters Website |publisher=Cambridge University |access-date=23 June 2014 |archive-date=1 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140601003110/http://www.kemble.asnc.cam.ac.uk/node/107 |url-status=dead }}{{sfn|Hugo|1859|p=3}} Tradition suggests that Æthelstan's contribution was penance for the murder of Atheling Edwin in 933 or following victory at the Battle of Brunanburh in 937.{{sfn|Page|1911}} The charter of King Ine is known to be a forgery, however it may have some basis in fact.{{sfn|Page|1911}} The charters were placed in the Museum of Somerset in 1946 on permanent loan from Lady Ailesbury.{{cite news |title=A Tenth Century Document. Charter to Muchelney Abbey |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000528/19460727/007/0002 |access-date=20 August 2014 |work=Taunton Courier, and Western Advertiser |date=27 July 1946 |publisher=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription}}
According to the Domesday Book of 1086, Benedictine Muchelney owned Muchelney, Midelney and Thorney islands.{{sfn|Page|1911}} At that time in 1086 the abbey paid a tax of 6,000 eels a year caught from the local rivers and marshes.{{sfn|Williams|Williams|1992|pp=43-44}}
Much of the building was carried out in the 12th century. The abbot successfully appropriated the nearby Perry Moor and surrounding areas and was involved in their drainage and management.{{sfn|Storer|1985|p=27}} A manuscript fragment containing the abbey's bede-roll{{cite web |title=Bede-roll, bead-roll |url=https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Bede-Roll |website=The Free Dictionary by Farlex |access-date=8 February 2022 |archive-date=8 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220208135301/https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Bede-Roll |url-status=live }} dating from the 12th and 13th centuries is held in the library of St. John's College, Cambridge.{{cite book |last=James |first=Montague Rhodes |author-link=M. R. James |url=https://archive.org/details/descriptivecata00stjo |title=A Descriptive Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Library of St John's College, Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=1913 |others=Reissued by the publisher, 2009 |pages=152–3 |isbn=978-1-108-00310-0}} Around 1308 the abbey built The Priest's House for the parish priest. It is now owned by the National Trust. It has been designated as a grade II listed building.{{NHLE |desc=The Priest's house |num=1056574 |access-date=14 December 2013}} Much of the abbey was rebuilt under abbots William Wyke (1489-1504) and Thomas Broke (1505-1522) with the funding being provided by the leasing of the Demesne farm.{{sfn|Dunning|2003|p=48-49}}
Between the 13th century and the dissolution five monks were sent from Muchelney to the University of Oxford studying at either Canterbury College or Gloucester College.{{sfn|Dunning|2001|p=90}} By the 16th century the Abbey included an Abbey Church, the demesne farm barton, an almonry, the parish church of St Peter and St Paul with its vicarage, and a Cross dating from the 15th century (moved in 1830 to near the parish church).{{cite web |title=Muchelney Abbey |url=http://www.isleofavalon.co.uk/sacredsites/muchelney.html |publisher=Isle of Avalon |access-date=22 June 2014 |archive-date=1 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001193726/http://www.isleofavalon.co.uk/sacredsites/muchelney.html |url-status=live }} The monastic church was built on the site of an early Saxon Church.{{sfn|Adkins|Adkins|1992|pp=88-90}}
In the inquiry into monastic finances of 1535, Muchelney was recorded as distributing £6 13s 4d in cash as alms.{{sfn|Dunning|2001|p=61}}
In 1538 the Abbey with all land and possessions was surrendered by the monks to Henry VIII in the course of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The main buildings of the abbey were then demolished,{{cite web |title=Muchelney Abbey |url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/muchelney-abbey/ |website=Properties |publisher=English Heritage |access-date=22 June 2014 |archive-date=6 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606231741/http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/muchelney-abbey |url-status=live }} although some of the decorative floor tiles were relaid in the neighbouring Church of St Peter and St Paul.{{cite web |title=Muchelney Abbey, Somerset |url=http://www.theheritagetrail.co.uk/abbeys/muchelney%20abbey.htm |publisher=The Heritage Trail |access-date=22 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714204043/http://www.theheritagetrail.co.uk/abbeys/muchelney%20abbey.htm |archive-date=14 July 2014}} The whole property and advowson was then granted to Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, later 1st Duke of Somerset.{{sfn|Page|1911}} On his execution in 1552 it reverted to The Crown. Stone from the abbey was used in many of the local buildings.{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=66485 |title=Parishes: Muchelney |editor-last=Dunning |editor-first=R. W. |author1-first=A. P. |author1-last=Baggs |author2-first=R. J. E. |author2-last=Bush |author3-first=Margaret |author3-last=Tomlinson |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |date=1974 |work=A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 3 |access-date=23 June 2014 |archive-date=23 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140723084300/http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=66485 |url-status=live }} In 1872 when collecting stone labourers found a blue stone coffin lid under which the pavement of the 14th century lady chapel was uncovered.{{cite news |title=Muchelney Abbey |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000406/18791017/027/0003 |access-date=7 July 2014 |work=Western Gazette |publisher=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription}} In 1924 a pageant was held at the site, involving around 500 people, representing the history of the abbey from its foundation to the dissolution.{{cite news |title=Muchelney Abbey. Its story through the ages. An admirable pageant |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000407/19240606/022/0005 |access-date=7 July 2014 |work=Western Gazette |date=6 June 1924 |publisher=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription}}
In 1927 the ruins of the abbey were taken over by the Office of Works,{{cite news |title=Muchelney Abbey |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000527/19270928/048/0003 |access-date=7 July 2014 |work=Taunton Courier, and Western Advertiser |date=28 September 1927 |publisher=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription}} and later passed to English Heritage.{{sfn|Adkins|Adkins|1992|pp=88-90}} The Abbot's House was designated as a Grade I listed building in 1959.{{cite web |title=The Abbot's House, Muchelney Abbey |url=http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/51972 |website=Somerset Historic Environment Record |publisher=Somerset County Council |access-date=23 June 2014 |archive-date=3 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003092537/http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/51972 |url-status=live }}
Architecture
File:Muchelney Abbey - Abbot's House.jpg
The Abbey is the second largest in Somerset after Glastonbury. The church is {{convert|192|ft}} long and {{convert|52|ft}} wide. Of the main building only some foundation walls remain. The south cloister walk and the north wall of a refectory are other surviving features. The south cloister includes remnants of the arcading and fan vault ceiling.{{cite web |title=Muchelney Abbey, Nr Langport (Somerset) |url=http://www.historicbritain.com/vendor/muchelney.aspx |publisher=Historic Britain.com |access-date=23 June 2014 |archive-date=7 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140607201146/http://www.historicbritain.com/vendor/muchelney.aspx |url-status=live }}
The only intact structure is the Abbot's House with well-preserved architectural features including external stonework and inside a great chamber with ornate fireplace, carved settle and stained glass, and timber roof.{{cite web |title=Muchelney Abbey — English Heritage |url=http://www.culture24.org.uk/am11502 |publisher=Culture24 |access-date=23 June 2014 |archive-date=21 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821122557/http://www.culture24.org.uk/am11502 |url-status=live }} Some of the wall paintings within the abbot’s house are in need of restoration.{{cite web |last1=Babington |first1=C |last2=Welford |first2=P |title=Wall Painting Condition Audit, Muchelney Abbey, Somerset |url=http://services.english-heritage.org.uk/ResearchReportsPdfs/065-1997.pdf |publisher=English Heritage |access-date=23 June 2014 |archive-date=21 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821194547/http://services.english-heritage.org.uk/ResearchReportsPdfs/065-1997.pdf |url-status=dead }}
An unusual attraction is the nearby thatched two-storey monks' reredorter or lavatory, which is considered unique in Britain.{{NHLE|desc=Monks' Reredorter, Muchelney Abbey|num=1056573|access-date=22 June 2014}}
A barn west of the abbey is a scheduled monument.{{National Heritage List for England |num=1006181 |desc=Barn W of Muchelney Abbey|access-date=5 April 2015}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book |last1=Adkins |first1=Lesley |last2=Adkins |first2=Roy |date=1992 |title=A Field Guide to Somerset Archeology |publisher=Dovecote Press |isbn=0946159947}}
- {{cite book |last1=Dunning |first1=Robert |date=2001 |title=Somerset Monasteries |publisher=Tempus |isbn=0752419412}}
- {{cite book |last1=Dunning |first1=Robert |date=2003 |title=A History of Somerset |edition=3rd |publisher=Somerset Books |isbn=0861834763}}
- {{cite book |last1=Hugo |first1=Thomas |date=1859 |title=A memoir of Muchelney Abbey, in the county of Somerset |url=https://archive.org/details/memoirofmuchelne00hugo |publisher=F. May}}
- {{cite book |last1=Quinn |first1=Tom |date=2008 |title=Hidden Britain |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sbfms1oJn8MC&q=Muchelney+Abbey&pg=PA23 |publisher=New Holland Publishers |isbn=9781847731296 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
- {{cite web |last=Page |first=William |date=1911 |title=Houses of Benedictine monks: The abbey of Muchelney |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=40923 |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |work=A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 2 |access-date=23 June 2014}}
- {{cite book |last1=Storer |first1=Bernard |date=1985 |title=The Natural History of the Somerset Levels |publisher=Dovecote Press |isbn=0946159289}}
- {{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Robin |last2=Williams |first2=Romney |year=1992 |title=The Somerset Levels |publisher=Ex Libris Press |isbn=0948578386}}
External links
{{Commons category|Muchelney Abbey}}
- [http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/muchelney-abbey/ Mulchelney Abbey]—Official site at English Heritage
{{Benedictine houses of England and Wales}}
Category:1538 disestablishments in England
Category:7th-century establishments in England
Category:Anglo-Saxon monastic houses
Category:Benedictine monasteries in England
Category:Christian monasteries established in the 10th century
Category:English Heritage sites in Somerset
Category:Grade I listed buildings in South Somerset
Category:Historic house museums in Somerset
Category:Monasteries in Somerset
Category:Religious museums in England