Leiston Abbey outside the town of Leiston, Suffolk, England, was a religious house of Canons Regular following the Premonstratensian rule (White canons), dedicated to St Mary.[1] Founded in c. 1183 by Ranulf de Glanville (c. 1112-1190), Chief Justiciar to King Henry II (1180-1189),[2] it was originally built on a marshland isle near the sea, and was called "St Mary de Insula". Around 1363 the abbey suffered so much from flooding that a new site was chosen and it was rebuilt further inland for its patron, Robert de Ufford, 1st Earl of Suffolk (1298-1369). However, there was a great fire in c. 1379 and further rebuilding was necessary.
The house was suppressed in 1537.[3][4][5] A Cartulary or monastic register survives.[6] The Abbey's annual rolls of their court of wreck from 1378 to 1481 are a most important historical resource.[7] A series of late visitations, and a list of abbots, are in Premonstratensian records.[8]
The impressive remains of the second abbey stand in the fields to the west of the road going north out of Leiston towards Theberton. After the Abbey was closed the estate was granted to Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk. The Abbey became a farm, the farmhouse being built into the abbey walls. A Georgian frontage was added to the house, which was extended in the 1920s. In 1928 the ruins and farm were bought by Ellen Wrightson for use as a religious retreat. At her death in 1946 she bequeathed the house, ruins, land and buildings to the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. It was purchased in 1977 to become the home of the Pro Corda Trust, a centre for the specialized education and training of chamber musicians. The site is managed by them, and is in the guardianship of English Heritage.
^'House of Premonstratensian canons: Abbey of Leiston', in W. Page (ed.), A History of the County of Suffolk Vol. 2, ed. William Page (V.C.H., London 1975), pp. 117-19 (British History Online accessed 12 May 2018).
^E. Foss, The Judges of England: with sketches of their lives (London, 1848), p. 185-86.
^A. Suckling, The History and Antiquities of the County of Suffolk, Volume II (Author, London 1848), pp. 422-52 (Internet archive).
^The abbey's temporalities and spiritualities in Suffolk are shown in the Valor Ecclesiasticus: J. Caley (ed.), Valor Ecclesiasticus temp. Henr. VIII: Auctoritate Regia Institutus (Commissioners, 1817), III, pp. 436-38 (Google).
^The abbey's inventory is printed in F. Haslewood, 'Inventories of Monasteries suppressed in 1536', Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and Natural History VIII Part 1 (1892), pp. 83-116, at pp. 102-04 (Suffolk Institute pdf).
^British Library, Cotton MS Vespasian E XIV. The scholarly edition is by R. Mortimer (ed.), Leiston Abbey Cartulary and Butley Priory Charters, Suffolk Records Society, Charters Series (Boydell Press, Ipswich 1979). Part of the Introduction (only) can be read online (Google). Texts of several of the charters are available in older sources.
^B. Schofield, 'Wreck rolls of Leiston Abbey', in J.C. Davies (ed.), Studies Presented to Sir Hilary Jenkinson (Oxford University Press, 1957), pp. 361-71; M. Bailey, 'Coastal fishing off south east Suffolk in the century after the Black Death', Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology XXXVII, Part 2 (1990), pp. 102-14 (Suffolk Institute pdf).
^F.A. Gasquet, Collectanea Anglo-Premonstratensia (3 Vols), III, Camden Society New (3rd) Series XII (Royal Historical Society, London 1906), pp. 43-55 (Internet Archive).
LeistonAbbey outside the town of Leiston, Suffolk, England, was a religious house of Canons Regular following the Premonstratensian rule (White canons)...
508 at the 2011 Census. The 14th-century remains of LeistonAbbey lie north-west of the town. Leiston thrived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries...
founded an abbey on the marshes at Minsmere in 1182, but, probably due to an increased risk of flooding, this was abandoned in favour of LeistonAbbey in 1363...
and the seaside resort of Aldeburgh. There were intermediate stops at Leiston and Thorpeness. Part of the line remains in use for nuclear flask trains...
buildings was used to rebuild LeistonAbbey at a new location 3.3 kilometres (2.1 mi) further inland. The remains of the abbey church, fish pond and other...
foundation to Ranulf's house of White canons (Premonstratensians) at LeistonAbbey, a few miles to the north, founded c. 1183. Butley Priory was suppressed...
Transport Museum Easton Farm Park Framlingham Castle Ickworth House LeistonAbbey Mid-Suffolk Light Railway Museum of East Anglian Life Norfolk and Suffolk...
including the Augustinian Canons Regular of Butley Abbey (1171) and the Premonstratensians of LeistonAbbey (1182) in Suffolk, both founded by Ranulf, and...
the medieval chapel of St Mary which stands on the original site of LeistonAbbey. The chapel ruins date from the 12th-century and include a World War...
at 8s. (respectively) at Buckeslow (later absorbed into Knodishall). LeistonAbbey had holdings worth 102 shillings and fivepence-halfpenny in "Knotshall...
Suffolk: Butley Priory, for Black Canons, was founded in 1171, and LeistonAbbey, for White Canons, in 1183. He also built a leper hospital at Somerton...
Halesowen Abbey was a Premonstratensian abbey in Halesowen, England of which only ruins remain. Founded by Peter des Roches with a grant of land from...
Gilbert of Butley and Robert of Leiston, that the churches of Leiston and Aldringham be transferred to LeistonAbbey in exchange for their church of Knodishall...
Ranulf de Glanvill, Chief Justiciar (founder of Butley Priory (1171) and LeistonAbbey (1183) in Suffolk), and his daughter Matilda was the wife of Hervey...
of Parham (fl. 1135). These include Butley Priory (founded 1171) and LeistonAbbey (1182–83), both founded by his son-in-law Ranulf de Glanville, Chief...
abbey, museum or other property in the care of English Heritage. List of Cadw properties (Wales) List of Historic Scotland properties List of abbeys and...
Premonstratensian abbey which was moved to the current site near Leiston in 1363 due to increased flooding of the coastal site. The chapel was built after the abbey was...
Suffolk, of 1171. Langdon Abbey was founded as a daughter house of LeistonAbbey, under the hand of Robert, abbot of Leiston, and was dedicated to the...
Thetford, which his father had founded. However the manor was vested in LeistonAbbey, and at its dissolution in 1536 was granted by the Crown to Charles...
Bruisyard Abbey. Robert Earl of Suffolk (d. 1369) and his son William the 2nd Earl (d. 1382), maintaining patronage of Butley Priory and LeistonAbbey, made...
were, however, tied up in grants to Ranulf de Glanvill's monastery at LeistonAbbey, or else not disponible owing to Roger's debts to the crown. Robert...
Monastic houses in England include abbeys, priories and friaries, among other monastic religious houses. The sites are listed by modern (post-1974) county...
Global Information