Tupholme Abbey facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Tupholme Abbey |
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Ruins of the Abbey
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| Location | Tupholme, Lincolnshire, England |
| Founder | Gilbert and Alan de Neville |
| Built | from 1155 to 1165 |
| Original use | Abbey |
| Architectural style(s) | Medieval |
| Governing body | Historic England |
| Owner | Heritage Trust of Lincolnshire |
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Listed Building – Grade I
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| Designated | 25 January 1927 |
Tupholme Abbey was a Premonstratensian abbey close to the River Witham some 10+1⁄2 miles (16.9 km) east of the city of Lincoln, England. The Witham valley in Lincolnshire is notable for its high concentration of monasteries—there were six on the east bank and three on the west—all presumably drawn to the area by the usefulness of the River Witham for transport and by the wealth (in wool) that it transported. The abbey was largely destroyed by 1538, after being seized during Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries.
The abbey ruin is located off the B1190 between Bardney and Horncastle. is a Grade I listed building It is maintained by Heritage Lincolnshire, and may be visited, free of charge, any day, from dawn until dusk.
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The Placename
The name Tupholme reflects the influence of Scandinavian cultures on Lincolnshire during the Danelaw during the 9th-11th centuries and it means basically an island where rams were raised. 'Tupp' is a word for male sheep first used in the north of Britain during the Middle Ages, with origins generally given as 'unknown', though it is conceivably related to the Swedish word 'tupp' meaning a male chicken (cock). As for the 'holme' in Tupholme, it comes from an old Norse word 'holmr', meaning an island and indicating that the abbey once stood on an island in a marsh, the surrounding lands having been wet before the fens were drained for farming.
The Premonstratensian Order
An order whose medieval traces are not much averted to in modern England is the Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré, also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and formerly, in Great Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit). This is an international religious order founded in 1120 in Prémontré near Laon, France, by Saint Norbert of Xanten, who later became Archbishop of Magdeburg. Norbert was a friend of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, the great Cistercian abbot, and like Bernard aimed at intensification of the Christian life. However, the Premonstratensians are not monks but Canons Regular. Like monks, the Canons Regular live in community and celebrate together the various religious services. Unlike monks, however, the work of Canons Regular places fundamental emphasis on preaching and the exercise of pastoral ministry. There have been and are several orders of Canons Regular, of which the Premonstratensians are one. The latter were ruled by an abbot general who before the French Revolution was the abbot of their French motherhouse of Prémontré, but is now resident in Rome. The larger houses of Canons Regular are sometimes ruled by an abbot and the smaller ones by a prior. All the orders of Canons Regular have as their fundamental guidelines the ancient Rule of St. Augustine, but with supplementary statutes that apply this to times and circumstances.
The Premonstratensian order received approbation by Pope Honorius II, in 1126. At that time they had in all nine houses, but by the mid-fourteenth century throughout western Europe there were some 1,300 monasteries for men and 400 for women. The order came to England about 1143, first founding a house in Lincoln known as Newsham (or Newhouse) Abbey. By the early sixteenth century they came to have 35 houses throughout the country, with other houses in Scotland and Ireland. All, like Tupholme Abbey, were wiped out during the Protestant Reformation.
In the Middle Ages, Lincolnshire was one of the most densely populated parts of England. Within the historical county there were no less than nine Premonstratensian houses. Other than Tupholme Abbey, these were: Barlings Abbey, Cammeringham Priory, Hagnaby Abbey, Newbo Abbey, Newsham Abbey, Orford Priory (women), Stixwould Priory and West Ravendale Priory.
A House of Canons Regular
The abbey was founded in honour of the Annunciation between 1155 and 1165 by Gilbert and Alan de Neville by appeal to the Premonstratensians. As the founding community, an abbot and twelve canons were sent from Newsham Abbey, also in Lincolnshire.
In the Middle Ages, Lincolnshire was one of the most densely populated parts of England. Within the county there were no less than ten Premonstratensian houses. Other than Tupholme Abbey, these were: Barlings Abbey, Broadholme Priory, Cammeringham Priory, Hagnaby Abbey, Newbo Abbey, Newsham Abbey, Orford Priory, Stixwould Priory and West Ravendale Priory.
The original endowment of Tupholme Abbey embraced the demesne at Tupholme and other smaller parcels of land, along with the churches of Burreth, Middle Rasen, Market Stainton, Ranby, and Sturton. Long after the founding endowments, we know that in 1329 Henry, Earl of Lancaster (c. 1281-1345), a grandson of King Henry III (1216–1272), granted the Lincolnshire manor of Burreth, and in 1342 Ralf de Neville donated that of Ranby.
However, Tupholme was never a prosperous house— in 1347, when the abbey was heavily in debt, an enterprising abbot was accused of "forgery and counterfeiting of coin of the realm", allegedly using the proceeds to buy corn and wine, which he sold for a profit. Was this an attempt to finance the Abbey?
Records of visitations in the later years of the abbey also show some misdemeanours—in 1497 Thomas Pynderwelle was banished to Croxton Abbey in Leicestershire as he was said to have become involved with a local woman called Philippa and fathered her child. In 1482 the behaviour of the canons had evidently been unruly, as they were forbidden to leave the precincts of the abbey without permission, or to sit up drinking after Compline (the last service of the day). The penalty for such misdeeds was to be three days on a bread and water diet. Nevertheless, these negative episodes are perhaps little against a silent record of almost four hundred years of an institution dedicated in large part to prayer, pastoral ministry among the local people and care of the poor.
Tupholme was a small house and as such was suppressed in the first wave of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, in 1536. The clear revenue of the Abbey in 1534 had been £100 14s. 10d. The last abbot, John Ancaster, was given a pension of £18 and eight other canons received £1 each, which was regarded as a usual amount.
Abbots of Tupholme
- Ivo, mentioned late 12th century
- Geoffrey, mentioned 1202-1230
- Thomas, mentioned1276-1289
- Ralf, elected 1293
- William, elected 1310; mentioned 1316
- Roger, mentioned c. 1348
- Simon of Lincoln, elected 1349
- John of Beseby, elected 1373
- William of Tynton, elected 1383; mentioned 1385
- John Spalding, died 1456
- John Coventry, elected 1456
- John Ancaster, mentioned 1474
- Thomas Sotby, mentioned 1488-1491
- Thomas Gryme, mentioned 1494-1509
- John Sword, mentioned 1522
- John Ancaster, last abbot, mentioned 1529.
Geography and ecology
There are several fruiting trees on the grounds, including apple and bullace. The many ponds in the abbey grounds are home to a great deal of wildlife including fine-leaved water dropwort and great crested newt. The nearby Southrey Wood is rich in forest wildlife. Sheep have (and for thousands of years have had) a big influence on the vegetation at Tupholme, their dung promoting the growth of stinging nettles and thistles.
