Continuing last month’s exploration of high medieval monasticism, this month I will visit sites across the country, both well known and less well known, that reflect the profound impact the Church had on society during this era, and the discoveries made by modern-day archaeologists which highlight this. It is a fascinating spread of locations that ranges from upland Yorkshire to lowland Hampshire, and everywhere in between.
Yorkshire Gold
If there is a spiritual home in Britain of high medieval monasticism, then ‘god’s own country’ – Yorkshire – has a strong claim to this crown. Some of the richest and most powerful houses were built there in this period, and some of the most famous and picturesque ruins remain visitor favourites today. Intriguingly, Current Archaeology’s coverage of these houses has been sporadic: while Fountains, Roche, and Rievaulx feature, other ‘great names’ including Kirkstall, Byland, and Jervaulx do not. And even those sites that have been visited make at best fleeting appearances: there are no large-scale reports akin to those (witnessed in last month’s column) from Cheshire and London, despite such fieldwork having taken place. For example, Fountains Abbey (founded in 1132 near Ripon in North Yorkshire) first properly features only in CA 323 (February 2017), at the time of a comprehensive geophysical survey of the site. This work revealed a wealth of information, not least the existence of 500 – and potentially as many as 2,000 – medieval burials there, long known due to Victorian reports but never properly identified before. There are then passing mentions of Fountains in CA 338 (May 2018) and CA 364 (July 2020), until only the second and most recent detailed reference in CA 382 (January 2022), reporting on the find of a medieval tannery, the largest of its kind in a monastic context. This is slim pickings indeed for a site that is rich in history, in the care of the National Trust, and a World Heritage Site to boot.
Other Yorkshire monasteries are even more sparsely featured: Rievaulx Abbey, near Helmsley in North Yorkshire (founded in 1132 and the first Cistercian outpost in the north of England), manages only a single passing mention in ‘Sherds’ in CA 370 (January 2021). Lesser-known Roche Abbey near Rotherham, South Yorkshire (founded in 1147), fares marginally better with a visit in CA 218 (May 2008) exploring its pre- and post-Dissolution history; and Gisborough Priory, an Augustinian rather than Cistercian house in Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire (founded in 1119), makes an ‘Odd Socs’ appearance in CA 351 (June 2019). But this is the lot in the magazine for Yorkshire’s bountiful monasteries. If anyone would like to rectify this absence, then please let us know – we would love to feature fieldwork at such sites in future issues.
