Coverham Abbey,

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

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 ...

, was a

Premonstratensian The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular in the Catholic Chur ...

monastery that was founded at Swainby in 1190 by Helewisia, daughter of the Chief Justiciar Ranulf de Glanville. It was refounded at Coverham in about 1212 by her son Ranulf fitzRalph, who had the body of his late mother reinterred in the

chapter house A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room that is part of a cathedral, monastery or collegiate church in which meetings are held. When attached to a cathedral, the cathedral chapter meets there. In monasteries, the whole communi ...

at Coverham. There is some evidence that the during the first half of the 14th century the abbey and its holdings were attacked by the Scots, with the abbey itself being virtually destroyed. Later in that century there is a record of there being fifteen canons plus the abbot in residence. The abbey ruins are 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, visu ...

and a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

Swainby Abbey

Swainby Abbey () was a

abbey in

. It was founded in 1187 or 1188 by Helewise, the daughter of Ranulph de Glanville, Sheriff of Yorkshire and later Justiciar for King Henry II. She was the wife of Robert, Lord of Middleham. In 1195, Helewise was buried at the abbey. The monastery was moved to Coverham in 1202.

Dissolution and remains

In the years leading up to dissolution, Coverham Abbey had been reduced to a modest size with fewer than a dozen monks, whose lands and comforts were managed by their monastic

bailiff A bailiff is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. There are different kinds, and their offices and scope of duties vary. Another official sometimes referred to as a '' ...

, Edward Loftus, father of the future

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Adam Loftus. Early in 1536, the King’s receiver William Blytheman, assisted by the Abbey's last

seneschal The word ''seneschal'' () can have several different meanings, all of which reflect certain types of supervising or administering in a historic context. Most commonly, a seneschal was a senior position filled by a court appointment within a royal, ...

Thomas Wraye, sent inspectors to the Abbey to search for misdemeanours, record rents and compile an inventory of possessions, no doubt ably assisted by Loftus. By April, the Abbot was granted a pension, the monks offered the chance recant their vows and the monastery was stripped of all value, including “''781 oz. of silver plate and 3 oz. Gold''” included 6 brass bells and all the lead stripped from the roofs. What was left was sold to Humphrey Orme twenty years later and rapidly fell into ruin. The principal surviving remains include the ruins of the church and the guesthouse, which were incorporated into two houses: Garth Cottage, and another house built on the site in 1674. This was replaced in the late 18th century by the current building known as Coverham Abbey House but still retains the surviving monastic features. It is in stone, and has a stone slate roof with stone copings and shaped kneelers. There are two storeys and an L-shaped plan, with a main range of five bays. On the south front is a Doric doorway with an

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

, a

fanlight A fanlight is a form of lunette window (transom window), often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing (window), glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open Hand fan, fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, ...

and an open

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

. The windows are sashes, the window above the door is tripartite and has a moulded

hood mould In architecture, a hood mould, hood, label mould (from Latin , lip), drip mould or dripstone is an external moulded projection from a wall over an opening to throw off rainwater, historically often in form of a '' pediment''. This moulding can be ...

. The older range is lower and on the east front is a long Latin inscription. The ruins of the

gatehouse A gatehouse is a type of fortified gateway, an entry control point building, enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a town, religious house, castle, manor house, or other fortification building of importance. Gatehouses are typically the most ...

at the entry to the grounds of Coverham Abbey are in stone with a stone slate roof, and consist of an archway and flanking gatehouse buildings. The arch is semicircular with two

chamfer A chamfer ( ) is a transitional edge between two faces of an object. Sometimes defined as a form of bevel, it is often created at a 45° angle between two adjoining right-angled faces. Chamfers are frequently used in machining, carpentry, fur ...

ed orders and moulded imposts. The buildings each has a small vent and a chamfered window, and the sides have been converted into

barrel vault A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...

ed chambers for animal shelters. There are many sculptural remains preserved. Two stone effigies have been set against a garden wall at Coverham Abbey House. The right effigy is the earlier, depicting a knight in

chain mail Mail (sometimes spelled maille and, since the 18th century, colloquially referred to as chain mail, chainmail or chain-mail) is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh. It was in common milita ...

with a

surcoat A surcoat or surcote is an outer garment that was commonly worn in the Middle Ages by soldiers. It was worn over armor to show insignia and help identify what side the soldier was on. In the battlefield the surcoat was also helpful with keeping ...

, a long sword and a shield. The hands are folded in prayer, and the legs are crossed. The left effigy dates from the early 14th century, and depicts a knight, also in chain mail with a surcoat, a sword and a shield, and with crossed legs. Behind it is a scene of a stag chased by two hounds, with a third hound biting the shield. The site is usually inaccessible to the public but can be glimpsed from the churchyard of Coverham's redundant medieval parish church, Holy Trinity Church, Coverham. The exterior of the abbey and its grounds doubled as the home of Mrs Bond in two early episodes of the BBC television series '' All Creatures Great and Small''.''All Memories Great & Small'', Oliver Crocker (2016; MIWK)

Burials

* Geoffrey le Scrope (1285–1340) and his wife Ivetta De Ros * Ralph Neville, 1st Baron Neville de Raby * Ranulph Neville, 1st Baron Neville

References and notes

Notes

Sources

* 'Premonstratensian houses: Abbey of Coverham', A History of the County of York: Volume 3 (1974), pp. 243–45. * Anthony New. 'A Guide to the Abbeys of England And Wales', p123-25. Constable.

External links

{{coord, 54.2732, -1.8387, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Monasteries in North Yorkshire 1536 disestablishments in England Premonstratensian monasteries in England 1190 establishments in England Christian monasteries established in the 1190s Coverham Scheduled monuments in North Yorkshire Grade I listed buildings in North Yorkshire