Eastminster, also known as New Abbey, St Mary Graces, and other variants, was 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 on

Tower Hill Tower Hill is the area surrounding the Tower of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is infamous for the public execution of high status prisoners from the late 14th to the mid 18th century. The execution site on the higher gro ...

East Smithfield East Smithfield is a small locality in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, east London, and also a short street, a part of the A1203 road. Once broader in scope, the name came to apply to the part of the ancient parish of St Botolph without ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

History

The abbey was founded by

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 ...

in 1350 immediately outside the Roman

London Wall The London Wall is a defensive wall first built by the Ancient Rome, Romans around the strategically important port town of Londinium in AD 200, as well as the name of a #modern, modern street in the City of London, England. Roman London was ...

in what is now the

London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, borough in London, England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London, the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and ...

. It stood just to the north of an older royal foundation, the Hospital and Collegiate Church of St Katharine by the Tower. Among the abbey's endowments was the reversion of one of the four manors of

Shere Shere is a village in the Guildford district of Surrey, England east south-east of Guildford and west of Dorking, centrally bypassed by the A25. Located on the River Tillingbourne it is a small still partly agricultural village chiefly set ...

Gomshall Gomshall is a village in the borough of Guildford in Surrey, England.OS Explorer map 145:Guildford and Farnham. Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton. It is on the A25, roughly halfway between Guildford and Dorking, and ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, given by King Edward III in 1350. This manor acquired the name Towerhill, due to its patronage by the abbey. In 1375,

Sir Nicholas de Loveyne Sir Nicholas de Loveyne (died 24 September 1375) was a major English property owner and courtier, who held a number of senior positions in the service of King Edward III. Background The parentage of Sir Nicholas de Loveyne (Lovayne/Lovaine/Lovain ...

bequeathed to the Abbot and Convent the reversion of the mills of Crash Mills, to endow the perpetual singing of masses for the donor. Crash Mills were situated on the River Thames, near East Smithfield. The Abbey's benefactors were mainly courtiers; it attracted relatively few bequests from the merchants of the City of London. The abbey was dissolved in 1538. From 1805 to 1966 the site was the home of the

Royal Mint The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's official maker of British coins. It is currently located in Llantrisant, Wales, where it moved in 1968. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly ow ...

, after which it was renamed as

Royal Mint Court Royal Mint Court is a building complex with offices and 100 shared-ownership homes in East Smithfield, close to the City of London financial district. The site was the home of the Royal Mint from 1809 until 1967 and was earlier the site of a C ...

and used for offices. A large-scale excavation of the site of the abbey took place between 1983 and 1988. An analysis of the archaeological and documentary evidence uncovered has been published by

Museum of London Archaeology MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) is an archaeology and built heritage practice and independent charitable company registered with the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA). It provides a wide range of professional archaeological se ...

Burials at the Abbey

References

Cistercian monasteries in England Monasteries in London Former buildings and structures in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets 1350 establishments in England Christian monasteries established in the 1350s 1538 disestablishments in England {{England-church-stub