England’s monasteries were dissolved by Henry VIII in the 1530s, marking the end of almost a millennium of monastic tradition.
Most monasteries belonged to the mainstream orders – Benedictine, Cistercian, Friars of several varieties and colours, while others included the Carthusians and Bridgetinnes.
As holders of vast swathes of land and exercising considerable economic and political power, England’s monasteries engaged in splendid and occasionally ground-breaking architectural schemes.
This course begins with St Augustine’s Canterbury, the earliest and one of the most powerful. Archaeology has revealed the pre-Conquest layout, while the standing remains illustrate the continuing significance of this Benedictine house. Castle Acre (Cluniac) offers a glimpse of the Norman re-planning of both Church and State, the monastery within a planned Norma settlement, complete with castle. The Cluniacs were rich and powerful and the remains at Acre are easily read and examined. Fountains is synonymous with the Cistercian. Remarkably complete and glorious in its present parkland setting, the architecture of Fountains illustrates the rise and fall of the Cistercian ideal. St. Andrew’s Norwich is the only surviving complete friary church in England. It was also one of the most important. The friars built scores of houses in England but their urban setting proved their doom following the Dissolution. Patronage was key to much monastic wealth and Tewkesbury survives as an outstanding example. Packed full of family burials, the church remains the best surviving illustration of the richness and glamour of England’s lost monasteries.
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