Tarrant Abbey was an abbey in Tarrant Crawford

Tarrant Crawford

Tarrant Crawford is a small village at the end of the Tarrant Valley in Dorset, England. It is mainly a farm with a few houses. OS maps show it at the position of Tarrant Abbey, an even smaller village with only three houses. Although still part of the farm, it is referred to by the locals as a...

, Dorset

Dorset

Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

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The abbey was founded in the 12th century by Ralph de Kahaines (of nearby Tarrant Keyneston) as a Cistercian nunnery, later supposedly the richest in England.

Two famous people are associated with the abbey. The first is Queen Joan, the wife of Alexander II of Scotland

Alexander II of Scotland

Alexander II was King of Scots from1214 to his death.-Early life:...

 and daughter of King John of England

John of England

John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...

 (Richard I's brother and successor) who is buried in the grave yard (supposedly in a golden coffin). The second is Bishop Richard Poore

Richard Poore

Richard Poore was a medieval English clergyman best known for his role in the construction of Salisbury Cathedral.-Early life:...

, builder of Salisbury Cathedral

Salisbury Cathedral

Salisbury Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England, considered one of the leading examples of Early English architecture....

, who was baptised in the abbey church and later (in 1237) buried in the abbey, which he founded. He was at one time Dean of the old cathedral at Old Sarum

Old Sarum

Old Sarum is the site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury, in England. The site contains evidence of human habitation as early as 3000 BC. Old Sarum is mentioned in some of the earliest records in the country...

, and later became bishop of first Chichester

Chichester

Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...

, then Salisbury

Salisbury

Salisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England and the only city in the county. It is the second largest settlement in the county...

 and finally Durham

Durham

Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...

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St. Mary's Church

St Mary the Virgin, Tarrant Crawford

The Church of St Mary the Virgin in Tarrant Crawford, Dorset, England, was built in the 12th century. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building, and is now a redundant church in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust...

 was the lay church of the Abbey. It was built in the 12th century. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building and is now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust

Churches Conservation Trust

The Churches Conservation Trust, which was initially known as the Redundant Churches Fund, is a charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk, those that have been made redundant by the Church of England. The Trust was established by the Pastoral Measure of 1968...

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