Crowland Abbey (historically often spelled Croyland Abbey; Latin: ) is a
Church of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...
, formerly part of a
Benedictine
The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...
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 ...
church, in
Crowland
Crowland (modern usage) or Croyland (medieval era name and the one still in ecclesiastical use; cf. ) is a town and civil parish in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated between Peterborough and Spalding. Crowland ...
in the
English county of
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...
. It is a
Grade I listed
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 ...
building.
History
A monk named
Guthlac came to what was then an island in the Fens to live the life of a
hermit
A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions.
Description
In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Chr ...
, and he dwelt at
Croyland between 699 and 714. Following in Guthlac's footsteps, a monastic community came into being here in the 8th century. Croyland Abbey was dedicated to
Saint Mary the Virgin
Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
,
Saint Bartholomew
Bartholomew was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Most scholars today identify Bartholomew as Nathanael, who appears in the Gospel of John (1:45–51; cf. 21:2).
New Testament references
The name ''Bartholomew ...
and Saint Guthlac. During the third quarter of the 10th century, Crowland came into the possession of the nobleman
Thurcytel, a relative of
Oscytel,
Archbishop of York
The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers the ...
. Thurcytel, a cleric, became
abbot
Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...
there and endowed the
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 ...
with many estates. It is thought that, about this time, Crowland adopted the
Benedictine
The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...
rule. In the 11th century,
Hereward the Wake
Hereward the Wake (Old English pronunciation /ˈhɛ.rɛ.ward/ , modern English pronunciation / ) (also known as Hereward the Outlaw or Hereward the Exile) was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman and a leader of local resistance to the Norman Conquest of E ...
was a tenant of the abbey.
Orderic Vitalis
Orderic Vitalis (; 16 February 1075 – ) was an English chronicler and Benedictine monk who wrote one of the great contemporary chronicles of 11th- and 12th-century Normandy and Anglo-Norman England.Hollister ''Henry I'' p. 6 Working out of ...
and
William of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury (; ) was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. He has been ranked among the most talented English historians since Bede. Modern historian C. Warren Hollister described him as "a gifted historical scholar and a ...
were invited to the Abbey in the twelfth century, by the abbot Geoffrey of Orleans, who had previously been the prior of
Saint Evroul, following a devastating fire in 1091.
While here Orderic not only wrote a monastic history from the time of Guthlac, but also edited a ''
vita'' of the saint, and composed an account of the death of Earl
Waltheof of Northumbria, whose body was laid to rest there. A versified version of the history of Crowland's foundation was made by
Henry of Avranches in the thirteenth century.
In 1537, the
abbot
Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...
of Croyland wrote to
Thomas Cromwell
Thomas Cromwell (; – 28 July 1540) was an English statesman and lawyer who served as List of English chief ministers, chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false cha ...
, sending him a gift of fish: "ryght mekely besychinge yowr Lordshippe favourably to accept the same fyshe, and to be gude and favourable Lord unto me and my poore House." Despite these representations, the abbey was
dissolved in 1539. The monastic buildings, including the chancel, transepts and crossing of the church appear to have been demolished fairly promptly but the nave and aisles had been used as the parish church and continued in that role.
During the
English Civil War
The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...
the remains of the abbey were fortified and garrisoned by
Royalists in 1642 under governor
Thomas Stiles. After a short siege it was taken by
Parliamentarian forces under the command of
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...
in May 1643, and this appears to have been when serious damage was done to the abbey's structure. The nave roof fell in 1720, and the main south wall was taken down in 1744. The north aisle of the nave was refurbished and remains in use as the parish church.
Crowland is well known to historians as the probable home of the ''
Croyland Chronicle
The ''Croyland Chronicle'', also called ''Crowland Chronicle'', is an important primary source for English medieval history, particularly the late 15th century. It is named for its place of origin, the Benedictine Croyland Abbey, Abbey of Croyl ...
'' of
Pseudo-Ingulf
Pseudo-Ingulf is the name given to an unknown English author of the ''Historia Monasterii Croylandensis'', also known as the ''Croyland Chronicle''. Nothing certain is known of Pseudo-Ingulf although it is generally assumed that he was connected wi ...
, begun by one of its
monk
A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...
s and continued by several other hands.
The church contains a skull which is identified as the skull of the 9th-century Abbot Theodore, who was killed at the altar by Vikings. The relic used to be on public view until it was stolen from its display case in 1982. The skull was returned anonymously in 1999.
The rural poet
John Clare
John Clare (13 July 1793 – 20 May 1864) was an English poet. The son of a farm labourer, he became known for his celebrations of the English countryside and his sorrows at its disruption. His work underwent major re-evaluation in the late 20t ...
wrote a sonnet entitled "Crowland Abbey", which was first published in ''The Literary Souvenir'' for 1828 and reprinted in his last book, ''The Rural Muse'' in 1835.
Archaeology

A team of students from
Newcastle
Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...
and
Sheffield Universities worked on Anchor Church Field in Crowland for several weeks in 2021 and uncovered some exciting finds – including a high status medieval building. This building was previously thought to represent a medieval chapel, but excavations in 2021 showed it is in fact a medieval hall. This structure would have been used as a residence and was divided into three parts with an ancillary room added to one corner.
List of abbots of Crowland
Organ
The abbey has a small two manual pipe organ. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.
Bells
Crowland Abbey is claimed to have been the first church in England – and among the first in the world – to have a tuned peal or ring of bells (circa 986). According to the ''Croyland Chronicle'', the Abbot Egelric, who died in 984, supplied the peal of bells:
However, the histories attributed to the 11th-century Abbot
Ingulf are now known to be the 14th-century inventions of
Pseudo-Ingulf
Pseudo-Ingulf is the name given to an unknown English author of the ''Historia Monasterii Croylandensis'', also known as the ''Croyland Chronicle''. Nothing certain is known of Pseudo-Ingulf although it is generally assumed that he was connected wi ...
, thus casting doubt on the story.
The chimes of the present bells were the first to be broadcast on wireless radio by the BBC on 1 November 1925. At 90 feet, the 'pull' or ropes are the longest in England.
Burials
*
Waltheof II, Earl of Northumbria
Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria (, ) (died 31 May 1076) was the last of the Anglo-Saxon earls and the only English aristocrat to be executed during the reign of William I.
Early life
Waltheof was the second son of Siward, Earl of Northumbria. ...
* Saint
Ælfthryth of Crowland
The churchyard contains the
war grave of an
airman
An airman is a member of an air force or air arm of a nation's armed forces. In certain air forces, it can also refer to a specific enlisted rank. An airman can also be referred to as a soldier in other definitions. As a military rank designat ...
of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
[CWGC Casualty Record]
In fiction
*Potter, Jeremy. ''A Trail of Blood'' (New York: McCall, 1970)
See also
*
List of English abbeys, priories and friaries serving as parish churches
References
Further reading
External links
Croyland Abbey Official WebsiteVisitor's Guide to Croyland Abbey by Rev.d Stanley Swift
Crowland (Croyland) Abbey videoretrieved 18 December 2010
Pboro Attractions
{{Coord, 52, 40, 35, N, 00, 09, 55, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title, name=Crowland Abbey
Christian monasteries established in the 8th century
Anglo-Saxon monastic houses
1539 disestablishments in England
Monasteries in Lincolnshire
Benedictine monasteries in England
Church of England church buildings in Lincolnshire
Ruins in Lincolnshire
8th-century establishments in England
Croyland
Monasteries dissolved under the English Reformation
Crowland