Chatteris Abbey
Encyclopedia
Chatteris Abbey in Chatteris
, Cambridgeshire
was founded as a monastery for Benedictine
nuns in 1016 by Ednoth, Bishop of Dorchester. Before 1310 much of the monastery was destroyed by fire. By the middle of the 14th century, some of the local families appear to have been using the nave of the monastic church as their parochial church.
Despite being of little value, the abbey survived the first wave of closures during the dissolution, and was finally surrendered to the Kings commissioners in 1538, by which time there were eleven nuns in residence. At this date many families still used the abbey church as parochial but this, unusually, did not save it from demolition, the parishioners being transferred to another church in the area. A range of the cloister buildings survived as part of a mansion known as Park House. This was demolished in 1847 and the site has now completely vanished beneath streets and housing.
Chatteris
Chatteris is a civil parish and one of four market towns in the Fenland district of Cambridgeshire, England, situated in The Fens between Huntingdon, March and Ely...
, Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
was founded as a monastery for Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
nuns in 1016 by Ednoth, Bishop of Dorchester. Before 1310 much of the monastery was destroyed by fire. By the middle of the 14th century, some of the local families appear to have been using the nave of the monastic church as their parochial church.
Despite being of little value, the abbey survived the first wave of closures during the dissolution, and was finally surrendered to the Kings commissioners in 1538, by which time there were eleven nuns in residence. At this date many families still used the abbey church as parochial but this, unusually, did not save it from demolition, the parishioners being transferred to another church in the area. A range of the cloister buildings survived as part of a mansion known as Park House. This was demolished in 1847 and the site has now completely vanished beneath streets and housing.