Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Remains of a Cistercian Abbey founded in AD 1146 and dissolved in 1538. The remains consist of a wall and brick gatehouse, the church and parts of the western and southern ranges.

Monument Types

• CISTERCIAN MONASTERY (CISTERCIAN MONASTERY, Medieval - 1146 AD to 1538 AD)

Full description

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[Area centred TQ 76105868] Remains of [NAT] Boxley Abbey [NR] (Cisterian) (A.D.1146) (NAT] (1) Ecclesiastical History. Boxley - The important remains of a Cistercian Abbey, founded 23.10.1143, dissolved 1538. Mother house - Clairvaux. There were 18 monks in 1381 and the abbot and 9 monks were pensioned after the surrender. Refers to 1144 and 1146 as foundation-dates given by other auths. (2) Architectural Description. The precinct of Boxley Abbey occupies an area of c.23 acres, bounded by a wall of varying date and entered by a brick gatehouse of a date not much earlier than the Dissolution. The church is represented by a few extant remains but the plan is known by probing. It appears to be contemporary with the Abbey's foundation. There are no extant traces of the eastern range other than the drain of the reredorter. Part of the western range, the Abbey kitchen, may be incorporated in the present dwelling house. (TR 75 NE 92). This house contains part of the southern range but the range may have been to the north of the house. There is a large 15/16th c. barn (TQ 75 NE 93) within the precinct and traces of fishponds. (3) The owner of Boxley Abbey, Sir John Best-Swaw confirmed the name correct as shown by Authority 1. Surveyed. (4) Boxley Abbey: the description given by Authority 3 is correct. Survey of 22.11.61. checked and correct. (5) Kent: Buxley Abbey (TQ 761587). Excavation by P.J. Tester for Kent Archaeological Society has shown that the plan of the Cistercian abbey drawn by F.C. Elliston-Erwood (Archaeol. Cant., LXVI (1953) fig.1 opp.p.46) is substantially correct. The church was of the same form and dimensions although the transepts were longer. (N-S) and each contained three E. chapels instead of two. Walls discovered by B.J. Wilson in 1959 and 1966 are now interpreted as part of the night stair in the SW. corner of the S. transept. In the nave the width of the N. aisle has been established by the discovery of the sleeper-wall of the N. arcade. At the W. end the foundations of a tower or porch with diagonal buttresses have been revealed. All four alleys of the cloister have been located, and the S. range lay on the site indicated by Elliston-Erwood as the alternative site for the refectory. At the E. end of this range, a room, probably the warming-house, was found. Many small glazed mosaic floor-tiles together with line-impressed and relief-decorated tiles were recovered. (6-7) (TQ 76195878) Remains of (NAT) Boxley Abbey (NR) (Cistercian) (NAT) (TQ 76045877) Gateway (NR) (8) TQ 761587. Boxley Abbey, Boxley. Listed under Ecclestiastical Buildings. Scheduled 106. (9) Additional bibliography. (10-21) Boxley Abbey Scheduled Monument No 12805 (22)

From the National Heritage List for England:

Details

The monument includes the abbey and monastic precinct at Boxley. The remains of the Abbey, which was founded in 1143, are enclosed within an angular wall which preserves the line and many of the features such as door-openings of the original precinct wall, although some of its fabric is clearly recent. The main gatehouse is on the western side, and features Tudor brickwork as well as a quantity of original medieval stonework, showing that it was rebuilt not long before the abbey's dissolution in 1538. Many features of the abbey have been disguised by later landscaping but were identified during small-scale excavations in 1897-8 and 1971-2. Both the east range of the cloister and the south aisle of the church are marked by embankments within the present garden whilst the E-W drain from the latrine has been incorporated into a walled garden. The nave of the church is marked by a former water garden. Further remains of the abbey are considered likely to survive beneath the present ground level, such as stables, granaries and other agricultural buildings, many originally built of timber. Fishponds and other watercourses survive as earthworks at several locations. The main upstanding feature inside the 9ha. precinct is the Hospitium. This building, thought originally to have been a hostel for visitors to the Abbey, is now used as a barn; it is included in the scheduling as well as being listed Grade I. Excluded from the scheduling are the cottages, which are listed Grade II, near the gatehouse, and the present house, which is listed Grade II*, (except the lengths of medieval stone walling of the W range of the cloister), and also the metalling of the access roads and the service trenches below them. The ground beneath each, however, is included. Also excluded from the scheduling are all post-Dissolution stonework used for garden features etc. unless part of repairs to medieval structures.

Reasons for Designation

From the time of St Augustine's mission to refound Christianity in AD 597 to the reign of Henry VIII, monasteries formed an important facet of both religious and secular life in the British Isles. Monasteries were built to house communities of monks, canons (priests), and sometimes lay-brothers, living a common life of religious observance under some form of systematic discipline. It is estimated from documentary evidence that over 700 monasteries were founded in England. These ranged in size from major communities with several hundred members to tiny establishments with a handful of brethren. They belonged to a wide variety of different religious orders, each with its own philosophy. As a result, they vary considerably in the detail of their appearance and layout, although all possess the basic elements of church, domestic accommodation for the community, and work buildings. Monasteries were inextricably woven into the fabric of Medieval society, acting not only as centres of worship, learning, and charity, but also, because of the vast landholdings of some orders, of immense wealth and political influence. They were established in all parts of England, some in towns and others in the remotest of areas. Many monasteries acted as the centre of a wide network including parish churches, almshouses, hospitals, farming estates and tenant villages. Some 75 of these religious houses belonged to the Cistercian Order founded by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux in the twelfth century. The Cistercians - or "white monks on account of their undyed habits" - led a harsher life than the earlier monastic orders, believing in the virtue of a life of austerity, prayer and manual labour. Seeking seclusion, they founded their houses in wild and remote areas where they undertook major land improvement projects. Their communities were often very large and included many lay brethren who acted as ploughmen, dairymen, shepherds, carpenters, and masons. The Cistercians' skills as farmers eventually made the Order one of the most rich and influential. They were especially successful in the rural north of England where they concentrated on sheep farming. Boxley is one of the most complete of the group of Cistercian Abbeys which were established as daughter houses by larger monasteries. Of these daughter houses virtually nothing is known other than the layouts of the church and cloisters. Few Abbey precincts survive sufficiently extensively to allow an understanding of the range of agricultural and industrial activities undertaken at such a site to support the community of monks and lay-brethren. The degree of survival and diversity of features in the example at Boxley provide a potentially outstanding opportunity to do so. At the same time, the small scale excavation of parts of the cloisters and church at Boxley means that it is well documented archaeologically. (26)

<1> OS 6" 1936-47 (OS Card Reference). SKE48342.

<2> Annal Waudeienses (Annal Monast ii) Sub-anno (OS Card Reference). SKE33099.

<3> Md Rel Houses of Eng & Wales 1953 105 (D Knowles & R N Hadcock) (OS Card Reference). SKE46697.

<4> Arch Cant 66 (1953) 45-51 plan (FC Eliston-Erwood) (OS Card Reference). SKE35412.

<5> F1 ASP 28.05.59 (OS Card Reference). SKE42324.

<6> F2 ASP 29.02.64 (OS Card Reference). SKE43184.

<7> Med Arch 17 1973 154-5 (OS Card Reference). SKE46736.

<8> Arch Cant 88 1973 129-58 plans photos and figs (P J Tester FSA) (OS Card Reference). SKE35930.

<9> OS 1:10000 1982 (OS Card Reference). SKE48168.

<10> DOE (IAM) AMs Eng 2 1978 111 (OS Card Reference). SKE40687.

<11> Md Rel Houses of Eng & Wales 1971 116 (D Knowles R N Hadcock) (OS Card Reference). SKE46698.

<12> Arch Cant 87 1972 227 (P J Tester) (OS Card Reference). SKE35895.

<13> Arch Cant 94 1978 257-259 plan (P J Tester) (OS Card Reference). SKE36181.

<14> Bldgs of Eng-NE & E Kent 1983 153-154 (J Newman) (OS Card Reference). SKE38115.

<15> The Antiquary 7 1883 162-165 210-213 (J Brownbill) (OS Card Reference). SKE49950.

<16> The Antiquary 24 1891 203-207 (OS Card Reference). SKE49939.

<17> The Antiquary 25 1892 75-76 111-115 (OS Card Reference). SKE49940.

<18> Arch Cant 86 1971 231-232 (P J Tester) (OS Card Reference). SKE35858.

<19> Arch Cant 15 1883 xli (OS Card Reference). SKE34743.

<20> JBAA 47 1891 313-322 (J Cave-Browne) (OS Card Reference). SKE44988.

<21> VCH Kent 2 1926 153-155 (R C Fowler) (OS Card Reference). SKE50950.

<22> Arch Cant 25 1902 liii-liv (OS Card Reference). SKE34886.

<23> Field report for monument TQ 75 NE 14 - May, 1959 (Bibliographic reference). SKE3783.

<24> Field report for monument TQ 75 NE 14 - February, 1964 (Bibliographic reference). SKE3784.

<25> English Heritage SAMs 30-5-91 (OS Card Reference). SKE41631.

<26> English Heritage, Register of Scheduled Monuments (Scheduling record). SKE16191.

Sources and further reading

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