Denny Abbey is a former

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

near

Waterbeach Waterbeach is an expanding village north of Cambridge on the edge of The Fens, in the South Cambridgeshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. It was designated a "new town" in 2018. History Early periods Waterbeach is on the Car Dyke, a Ro ...

, about north of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

, England. It is now the Farmland Museum and Denny Abbey. The monastery was inhabited by a succession of three different

religious order A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practi ...

s. The site is a

scheduled ancient monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

. The church and refectory buildings survive and are

Grade I listed buildings In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. Also on the site is a barn built in the 17th century from stone taken from the abbey. The site, on an ancient road between Cambridge and Ely, was settled by farmers as early as the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

period. The

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

recorded that it was owned by

Edith the Fair Edith the Fair ( ang, Ealdgȳð Swann hnesce, "Edyth the Gentle Swan"; c. 1025 – c. 1066), also known as Edith Swanneck,Her first name is also spelled Ealdgyth, Aldgyth, ''Edeva'' or Eddeva, and sometimes appears as ''Ēadgȳð'' and ''Ēadgif ...

(also known as ''Swanneck''), the

consort __NOTOC__ Consort may refer to: Music * "The Consort" (Rufus Wainwright song), from the 2000 album ''Poses'' * Consort of instruments, term for instrumental ensembles * Consort song (musical), a characteristic English song form, late 16th–earl ...

of King Harold, in 1066. It was owned subsequently by the

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

lord,

Alan, 1st Earl of Richmond Alan, 1st Earl of Richmond (before 1100 – 15 September 1146), Breton ''Alan Penteur'', also known as "Alan the Black", was a Breton noble who fought for Stephen, King of England. Alan was the third son of Stephen, Count of Tréguier, and ...

Denny Abbey refectory (geograph 1868027)

The place-name "Denny" is first attested in

Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

records of 1176, where it appears as ''Daneya'' and ''Deneia''. The name is thought to mean "Danes' Island".

Benedictine Monastery

A group of

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

s, dependent upon

Ely Abbey Ely Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is an Anglican cathedral in the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. The cathedral has its origins in AD 672 when St Etheldreda built an abbey church. The pres ...

, moved here from their water-logged monastery at Elmeney (a vanished settlement about a mile to the northeast) in the 1150s, at the suggestion of

Conan IV, Duke of Brittany Conan IV ( 1138 – February 20, 1171), called the Young, was the Duke of Brittany from 1156 to 1166. He was the son of Bertha, Duchess of Brittany, and her first husband, Alan, Earl of Richmond. Conan IV was his father's heir as Earl of Richmon ...

. They built a church and monastery, called Denny

Priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of mon ...

, which opened in 1159. The crossing and

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...

s are the only parts of the original abbey that remain today. In 1169 the monks returned to Ely and the site was transferred to the

Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

Preceptory of the Knights Templars

The Templars built a number of additions, including a large Norman-style arched doorway and a

refectory A refectory (also frater, frater house, fratery) is a dining room, especially in monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminaries. The name derives from the La ...

. Denny became a hospital for sick members of the Order in the mid-13th century. By the end of that century, the Knights had lost their power, and in 1308

King Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to the ...

had all the members of the Order arrested and imprisoned for alleged

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

, confiscating their property. Denny was then given to the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...

, who took no active interest in the property. In 1324 it was taken back by the Crown.

House of Poor Clares

In 1327

King Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring ro ...

gave the Priory to a young widow, Marie de Châtillon,

Countess of Pembroke {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 Countess of Pembroke is a title that has been borne by several women throughout history, including: * Isabel de Clare, 4th Countess of Pembroke (1172–1220), wife of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, and Count ...

(1303-1377), known for her founding of

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

. Countess Marie turned what had been the Abbey church into her lodgings. She had a new church built and gave the remainder of the priory to the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

Poor Clares The Poor Clares, officially the Order of Saint Clare ( la, Ordo sanctae Clarae) – originally referred to as the Order of Poor Ladies, and later the Clarisses, the Minoresses, the Franciscan Clarist Order, and the Second Order of Saint Francis ...

. This community of

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

s moved from their flood-prone Waterbeach Abbey. The priory was expanded in this period, with comfortable quarters for the Countess, who never entered the Poor Clares, and spartan accommodation for the nuns. The priory began to be called Denny Abbey during this period, despite the fact that the term "abbey" is never used by the nuns of that Order. The Countess of Pembroke died in 1377 and was buried before the high altar of the nuns' church in Denny Abbey, but the precise location of her grave is now lost.

Abbesses of Denny

A list of the Abbesses of Denny: *Katherine de Bolewyk, first abbess 1342, occurs 1351 *Margaret, occurs 1361 *Joan Colcestre, occurs 1379 *Isabel Kendale, occurs 1391, 1404 *Agnes Massingham, elected 1412 *Agnes Bernard, occurs 1413 *Margery Milley, occurs 1419, 1430-1 *Katherine Sybyle, occurs 1434, 1449 *Joan Keteryche, occurs 1459, 1462, died 1479 *Margaret Assheby, occurs 1480, 1487, 1493 *Elizabeth Throckmorton, occurs 1512, last abbess (who retired to live with her nephew

George Throckmorton Sir George Throckmorton (c. 1480 – 6 August 1552) of Coughton Court in Warwickshire, England, was a Member of Parliament during the reign of King Henry VIII. Origins Born before 1489 in Worcestershire, he was the eldest son and heir of Sir R ...

Coughton Court Coughton Court () is an English Tudor country house, situated on the main road between Studley and Alcester in Warwickshire. It is a Grade I listed building. The house has a long crenellated façade directly facing the main road, at the cen ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

). She took with her when she left the wooden

dole Dole may refer to: Places * Dole, Ceredigion, Wales * Dole, Idrija, Slovenia * Dole, Jura, France ** Arrondissement of Dole * Dole (Kladanj), a village at the entity line of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina-Republika Srpska * Dole, Ljubušk ...

-gate of Denny Abbey, carved with her name, which can still be seen at Coughton Court.

Secular use

The abbey was closed in 1536, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and was once more taken over by the Crown. The last of the nuns had left within two years. The Abbess's lodge, originally built for the Countess, was retained as a farmhouse, and the Refectory as a barn, but the nave was demolished. In 1628 the abbey passed into private ownership. The barrister John George Witt was born at Denny Abbey in 1836.

, which had also been founded by the Countess of Pembroke in 1347, bought the site in 1928. The Abbey, Nuns' Refectory and surrounding land remained a farm until they were leased in 1947 to the Ministry of Works, which later transferred them to

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

. The abbey, partially restored in the 1960s, is open to the public alongside the Farmland Museum, who manage the Abbey on behalf of English Heritage. The Farmland Museum, which opened in 1997, has a shop, café and an education centre, running courses for local schools. Farm buildings including the 17th-century barn have been converted into displays of local history and farming, including a 1940s farm labourer's cottage, a 1930s village shop, displays on local crafts and skills. Many of the old farm tools and machinery came from a museum at nearby Haddenham which closed. It was at Haddenham where interviews were made in the 1970s with local farming people, recording their stories dating back to the beginning of the 20th century. The whole site, known as The Farmland Museum and Denny Abbey, is open from April to October, and there are regular special event days. Note: The spellings ''Denny'' and ''Denney'' appear with equal frequency in the historical literature. The latter spelling is no longer used locally, in modern times.

References

Sources

* * * * (a translation into English, , was published in 2005)

External links

The Farmland Museum and Denny Abbey

Teachers' resource pack: English Heritage

Visitor information: English Heritage
{{coord, 52.293559, 0.186542, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title 1159 establishments in England 1536 disestablishments in England Farm museums in England Benedictine monasteries in England Franciscan monasteries in England Poor Clare monasteries in England Convents in England Christian monasteries established in the 12th century Monasteries dissolved under the English Reformation English Heritage sites in Cambridgeshire Grade I listed churches in Cambridgeshire Grade I listed monasteries Knights Templar Monasteries in Cambridgeshire Museums in Cambridgeshire Preceptories of the Knights Hospitaller in England Religious museums in England Religious organizations established in the 1150s Rural history museums in England Scheduled monuments in Cambridgeshire Tourist attractions in Cambridgeshire Waterbeach