Sulby Abbey 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 ...

house in

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

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 ...

, founded in 1155 as daughter house of the Abbey of St. Mary and St. Martial in Newsham.

History

The abbey of Sulby was founded about the year 1155 for canons of the

order by William de Wideville. It was originally founded in Welford parish, and subsequently moved some two miles to the west to Sulby. The change probably took place in the reign of Henry III., when Sir Robert de Paveley bestowed on the canons the church and manor of Sulby, comprising upwards of fifteen hundred acres."House of Premonstratensian canons: The abbey of Sulby", ''A History of the County of Northampton'', Volume 2. (R M Serjeantson, and W R D Adkins, eds.) London: Victoria County History, 1906. 138-142. British History Online
/ref> The Abbey was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin."Sulby Abbey", ''History, gazetteer, and directory of Northamptonshire'', William Whellan and co, 1849, p. 961
/ref> On Maundy Thursday the abbot was wont to wash the feet of twenty-six poor men and give to each a penny, a farthing loaf, and a herring. On the same day five hundred other poor folk received a loaf and a herring from the convent.

Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also known as Edward of Caernarfon or Caernarvon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir to the throne follo ...

found the abbey convenient and suitable as a royal lodging, and during progresses frequently broke his journey here, and transacted official business. Edward stayed at Sulby on 3 August 1310 on his way north on a military expedition to Scotland. The Abbot General at Prémontré claimed under the rule of St. Norbert authority to tax the houses for the benefit of the order in general and of Prémontré in particular. A royal proclamation of 1306 forbid making payments to foreign superiors. The English Premonstratensian abbots chose Abbot William of Langdon, and Abbot Henry of Sulby to attend the general chapter of 1310 in Prémontré to explain the arrearages. Edward II sent an order to Robert de Kendal, constable canon of Dover and warden of the Cinque Ports, desiring him to permit the abbot of Sulby, who had the king's licence to attend the general chapter of his order in parts beyond the sea, to cross from Dover with his household, horses, and equipments, and to furnish twenty marks for his expenses, provided that he should carry with him nothing contrary to the ordinance prohibiting contributions being carried to foreign superiors. The dispute dragged on for some years, but the question of apport or tallage to the mother-house was put in abeyance."The Abbey of Sulby", ''The Victoria History of the County of Northampton'', Vol. 2, (William Ryland Dent Adkins, ed.), Constable, 1906, p. 138
/ref> Richard Redman was abbot of the small house of White Canons at

Shap Abbey Shap Abbey was a religious house of the Premonstratensian order of Canons regular situated on the western bank of the River Lowther in the civil parish of Shap Rural, around from the village of Shap, in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England ...

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

, and vicar to the abbot of Prémontré, and was hence the visitor of the English Premonstratensians. On the visitation of 1478 the number of churches in the abbey's gift is entered as six, all served by curates. At the visitation on 28 October 1500 Thomas Wright had been detected in the study of certain illicit books of experiments, apparently of the 'Philosopher's Stone' type. He owned to the study of them, but denied that he had attempted to put them in practice. At the intercession of the superior and brethren, the visitor allowed him to continue at the monastery up to the next provincial chapter, but enjoined on him meanwhile the saying of a psalter. In 1481, the king's chamberlain, Sir William Hastings, obtained a licence to grant the

advowson Advowson () or patronage is the right in English law of a patron (avowee) to present to the diocesan bishop (or in some cases the ordinary if not the same person) a nominee for appointment to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, a ...

s of the churches of Wistow and

Lubenham Lubenham is a village and civil parish west of Market Harborough, in the Harborough district, in the south of Leicestershire, England. The first National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup was held in Lubenham, in the grounds of what is now Thorpe Lub ...

, Leicestershire, with lands not held in chief, to the value of five marks yearly, to the abbot and convent of Sulby, and for the latter to appropriate the churches provided a sufficient vicarage were endowed in each, and a sum of money set apart for distribution to poor parishioners.

Dissolution

The Abbey was dissolved in 1538; the property was purchased by William Cradock.Curtis, John. ''A Topographical History of the County of Leicester'', W. Hextall, 1831, p. 22
/ref> In 1567, it came into the possession of

Christopher Hatton Sir Christopher Hatton (12 December 1540 – 20 November 1591) was an English politician, Lord Chancellor of England and a favourite of Elizabeth I of England. He was one of the judges who found Mary, Queen of Scots guilty of treason. Early ...

. By 1869, the property was mostly occupied by farm buildings and owned by Henry Verney, 18th Baron Willoughby de Broke. All that is left are some buried and earthwork remains."Sulby Abbey", Pastscape
/ref>

Abbots of Sulby

*John, occurs 1207 *Walter, deposed 1232 *William, elected 1232 *Hugh, elected 1276 *Henry, occurs 1301 *John of Welford, elected 1314 *Walter, occurs 1326 *William Gysburgh, occurs 1414 *John Coventry, resigned 1447 *William Knolles, elected 1447 *John Halley, admitted 1452 *John Middleton, occurs 1487 and 1500 *Robert Goodall, occurs 1513 *Ralphe Armonte, admitted 1534

References

{{coord missing, Northamptonshire Monasteries in Northamptonshire