Buckland Abbey is a Grade I listed 700-year-old house in Buckland Monachorum, near Yelverton,

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, noted for its connection with Sir Richard Grenville the Younger and Sir

Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...

. It is owned by the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

Monastic history

Buckland Abbey was founded as a

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

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 Christians, Christian monks and nun ...

in 1278 by Amicia, Countess of Devon and was a daughter house of

Quarr Abbey Quarr Abbey (French language, French: ''Abbaye Notre-Dame de Quarr'') is a monastery between the villages of Binstead and Fishbourne, Isle of Wight, Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight in southern England. The name is pronounced as "Kwor" (r ...

, on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

. The abbey of Quarr had close connections with the family, having been founded by

Baldwin de Redvers, 1st Earl of Devon Baldwin de Redvers, 1st Earl of Devon (died 4 June 1155), feudal baron of Plympton in Devon, was the son of Richard de Redvers and his wife Adeline Peverel. He was one of the first to rebel against King Stephen, and was the only first rank mag ...

. It has been suggested that Buckfast was founded as a monument to her husband, Baldwin de Redvers, 6th Earl of Devon (d. 1245) and her son, also Baldwin (d. 1262). Amicia started to make arrangements for the foundation in 1273. It was one of the last Cistercian houses founded in England and also the most westerly. The remains of the church are about long. The width across the transepts is . The nave and presbytery are wide. For its late date, the church was unusually simple, being without aisles. Most of this church survives within the present house - the arches supporting the tower can be seen in the top floor, and one of the transept chapels retains its vault. The monks would have lived in buildings around a cloister to the north of the church. These have disappeared, but the building now called Tower Cottage may have been part of the abbot's house. The initial endowment was large - as well as the manors of Buckland, Bickleigh and Walkhampton, and the estate at Cullompton, the Exeter diocese episcopal registers show the abbey managed five granges at Buckland plus the home farm at the abbey. In total, this amounted to over 20,000 acres (8097 hectares). A market and fair at Buckland and Cullompton were granted in 1318. In 1337 King

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

granted the monks a licence to crenellate, allowing them to fortify the abbey. Buckland Abbey TiThe barn

In the 15th century the monks built a

Tithe Barn A tithe barn was a type of barn used in much of northern Europe in the Middle Ages for storing rents and tithes. Farmers were required to give one-tenth of their produce to the established church. Tithe barns were usually associated with the ...

which is long and survives to this day. It is Grade I listed Another survival is a building now known as the Guest House, but probably originally 14th or 15th century stabling. It remained an abbey until the Dissolution of the Monasteries by

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

. At this time the revenues were placed at £241 17s. 9d. per annum (). This put it among the larger houses that survived the first wave of closures. At the eventual suppression in 1539, Abbot John Toker was given a yearly pension of £60 (), and the remaining twelve monks shared £54 10s. 6d.

Abbots

Post monastic history

In 1541 Henry sold Buckland to Sir Richard Grenville the Elder (Sewer of the Chamber to Henry VIII, poet, soldier, last Earl Marshal of Calais) who, working with his son Sir Roger Grenville (Gentleman of the Privy Chamber of Henry VIII, captain of the ill-fated ''

Mary Rose The ''Mary Rose'' was a carrack in the English Tudor navy of Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII. She was launched in 1511 and served for 34 years in several wars against France, Scotland, and Brittany. After being substantially rebuilt in ...

''), began to convert the abbey into a residence, renaming it Buckland Greynvile or Grenville. Sir Roger died in 1545 when the ''Mary Rose'' heeled over in a sudden squall while the English fleet was engaged with the French fleet in the English Channel off

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

. He left a son aged 3, also named Richard Grenville, who completed the conversion in 1575–76. After being owned by the family for 40 years, Buckland Greynvile was sold by Sir Richard the younger to two intermediaries in 1581, who unknown to Grenville, were working for Sir Francis Drake, whom he despised. By this point its value had increased to £3400. The abbey is unusual in that the church was retained as the principal component of the new house whilst most of the remainder was demolished, which was a reversal of the normal outcome with this type of redevelopment. The main external changes were the demolition of the transepts, to let light into a central hall under the tower, and the addition of a new service wing on the south side. Drake lived in the house for 15 years, as did many of his collateral descendants. In 1796-1801 major alterations were made, and further work was done after a fire in 1915. In the early 20th century the abbey was inhabited by the Dowager Lady Seaton, born Elisabeth Fuller-Elliot-Drake, who died on 9 May 1937. The next year, another fire devastated the house. Lady Seaton left a life interest to Captain Richard Owen Tapps Gervis Meyrick. In 1946 he sold it to Captain Arthur Rodd, who presented the property to the National Trust in 1947.

Buckland today

Following a restoration between 1948 and 1951 which cost around £20,000 (), largely funded by the Pilgrim Trust the property has been open to the public since 1951 and is operated by the

with the assistance of Plymouth City Council — the Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery use the building to house part of their collection. The collection is noted for the presence of "

Drake's Drum Drake's Drum is a snare drum that Francis Drake, Sir Francis Drake took with him when he Francis Drake's Circumnavigation, circumnavigated the world. Shortly before he died he ordered the drum to be taken to Buckland Abbey and vowed that if Eng ...

". A number of independent craft workshops are located in the converted ox sheds. The Cider House garden includes both a wild garden and a kitchen garden. There is also a medieval Great Barn next to the house. In March 2013 the portrait of a man wearing a white feathered bonnet was re-attributed to

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...

by the Rembrandt expert Ernst van de Wetering. In June 2014, after eight months of work at the Hamilton Kerr Institute, the painting's authenticity was confirmed and its value estimated at £30m. File:Buckland Abbey tower and barn.jpg, Tower File:Buckland Abbey TiThe barn.jpg,

Tithe barn A tithe barn was a type of barn used in much of northern Europe in the Middle Ages for storing rents and tithes. Farmers were required to give one-tenth of their produce to the established church. Tithe barns were usually associated with the ...

Costume Group

The National Trust Costume Group operate at Buckland Abbey, creating authentic

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The Roman symbol of Britannia (a female per ...

costumes using traditional materials and methods. There is a complete Francis Drake costume, based on the famous portrait of Drake in the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

, and the group are currently working on a costume for Lady Drake, also based on a portrait. Image:Francis Drake, por un artista anónimo.jpg, Portrait of Sir Francis Drake,

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

(artist unknown, c. 1580) Image:Frances Drake Costume.JPG, The completed Francis Drake Costume with Linda Bainbridge, a member of the Costume Group

References

External links

Buckland Abbey information at the National TrustList of paintings on view
{{coord, 50, 28, 52, N, 4, 08, 01, W, display=title, region:GB_type:landmark_source:dewiki Cistercian monasteries in England Country houses in Devon National Trust properties in Devon Grade I listed churches in Devon Monasteries in Devon Museums in Devon Historic house museums in Devon 1278 establishments in England Christian monasteries established in the 1270s Francis Drake Grade I listed monasteries Monasteries dissolved under the English Reformation