Poulton Abbey facts for kids

Poulton Abbey was a special kind of religious building called a monastery in Poulton, Cheshire, England. It was built by a group of monks called the Cistercians during the Middle Ages, a long time ago between 1153 and 1158.

Monasteries were places where monks lived, worked, and prayed. Poulton Abbey didn't stay in Poulton forever. In 1214, the monks moved to a new place near Leek, Staffordshire. There, their monastery became known as Dieulacres Abbey.

The original site in Poulton didn't become empty. It turned into a "grange estate." This was like a farm or property owned by the abbey, used to grow food and manage resources. There was also a small building called the Poulton Chapel on the estate. It was used as a simple, one-room church for local people.

Later, in 1487, the abbey rented out this estate to an important family called the Manleys. The chapel was made much bigger for them. It got a main hall (called a nave), a special area for the altar (called a chancel), and a tower. By the 1500s, all the original abbey buildings had disappeared. However, the chapel's location was still marked on old maps from the 1600s and even on the first Ordnance Survey map in 1823.

Discovering Poulton Abbey's Past

Since 1995, experts have been digging at the Poulton site to learn more about its history. This work is called an archaeological investigation. It started as a team effort between Chester Archaeology and Liverpool University. Later, it became its own project, known as the Poulton Research Project.

What Archaeologists Found

The first place they dug was around the chapel. So far, they have found and carefully uncovered more than 800 burials there. These are the remains of people who were buried at the chapel over many centuries.

Archaeologists also dug special test holes, called evaluation trenches. They also used special equipment for "geophysical investigations." This helps them look underground without digging. These methods showed that there was a large settlement from the Iron Age (a very old time in history) and even signs of a Roman landscape in the area. However, the main buildings of the monastery itself have not been found yet.

Time Team Visits Poulton

In June 2006, a popular TV show about archaeology called Time Team visited Poulton. They explored a place known as Poulton Hall, which is north of where the chapel was. They wanted to see if this might be where the main abbey buildings once stood.

The Time Team investigation found that Poulton Hall was probably the location of the grange buildings, like barns and workshops. But it wasn't the main abbey itself.

The Chapel by the Gate

Professor Mick Aston, a famous archaeologist from Time Team, had an idea about the chapel. He thought it was a "capella ad portam." This means "a chapel by the gate." He believed it was built for the local people who lived nearby. They wouldn't have been allowed inside the main abbey chapel, so this smaller chapel was for them to use.