Robertsbridge Abbey was a
Cistercian
The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, 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 Sain ...
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 ...
in
Robertsbridge
Robertsbridge is a village in the civil parish of Salehurst and Robertsbridge, and the Rother district of East Sussex, England. It is approximately 10 miles (16 km) north of Hastings and 13 miles (21 km) south-east of Royal Tunbrid ...
,
East Sussex
East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East ...
, England. It was founded in 1176 by Alured and Alicia de St Martin.
Due to its position, the Abbey lands suffered continually from the effects of the sea and it was never rich or prominent. The abbey was eventually forcibly surrendered in 1538 by the abbot Thomas Taylor, and dissolved as part of the
Dissolution of the Monasteries. There were then eight monks. The property afterwards passed to Sir William Sydney.
The main surviving part of the Abbey is the Abbot's house, built circa 1250, formerly a farmhouse but now part of a private residence. The building is mainly of stone rubble with some red brick and brick buttresses at the back, weather-boarded at the gable end with a steeply-pitched tiled roof. Beneath the building is a crypt. The house is a grade I listed building.
In the garden of the house are the ruins of a rectangular building of stone rubble which was part of the Frater which are separately grade II* listed.
See also
*
List of monastic houses in East Sussex
The following is a list of the monastic houses in East Sussex, England.
See also
* List of monastic houses in England
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monastic houses in East Sussex
East Sussex
Lists of buildings and structures ...
References
External links
'Houses of Cistercian monks: Abbey of Robertsbridge', A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 2 (1973), pp. 71-74. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=36589 Date accessed: 19 June 2011
Cistercian monasteries in England
Buildings and structures in East Sussex
Monasteries in East Sussex
Ruins in East Sussex
Christian monasteries established in the 12th century
1176 establishments in England
1538 disestablishments in England
Grade I listed buildings in East Sussex
Grade II* listed buildings in East Sussex
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