Thornton Abbey was a medieval abbey located close to the small

North Lincolnshire North Lincolnshire is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Lincolnshire, England. At the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census, it had a population of 167,446. T ...

village of Thornton Curtis, near Ulceby, and directly south of Hull on the other side of the

Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Trent, Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms ...

estuary. Its ruins are 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 ...

, including notably England's largest and most impressive surviving monastic gatehouse. It was founded as a

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. They were created by the Catholic Church. Priories may be monastic houses of monks or nuns (such as the Benedictines, the Cistercians, or t ...

in 1139 by William le Gros, the Earl of Yorkshire, and raised to the status of

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 ...

in 1148 by

Pope Eugene III Pope Eugene III (; c. 1080 – 8 July 1153), born Bernardo Pignatelli, or possibly Paganelli, called Bernardo da Pisa, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1145 to his death in 1153. He was the first Cist ...

. It was a house for Augustinian or black canons, who lived a communal life under the Rule of St Augustine but also undertook pastoral duties outside the Abbey. Officers within the abbey included a cellarer, bursar, chamberlain, sacrist, kitchener and an infirmer. A medieval hospital also operated near the abbey, founded no later than 1322. Due to its involvement in the area's burgeoning wool trade, Thornton was a wealthy and prestigious house, with a considerable annual income in 1534 of . The abbey was closed in 1539 by

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. It survived by becoming a Secular College, until Secular Colleges were also closed, in 1547. Thornton Abbey railway station is nearby.

Later history

Since the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the site has been owned by: Henry Randes (the Bishop of Lincoln); Sir Robert Tyrwhitt of Kettleby; Sir Vincent Skinner of Westminster (in 1602); Sir Robert Sutton; George Appleby; and in 1816 Charles, 1st Baron Yarborough. In May 1859, members of the Lincoln Diocesan Architectural Society visited the site and were given a guided tour by the Rev. J. Byron of

North Killingholme North Killingholme is a small village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England. Situated on the southern bank of the Humber Estuary north-west of Grimsby, Killingholme is divided into two administrative distri ...

. A report of the tour, published by the ''

Stamford Mercury The ''Stamford Mercury'' (also the ''Lincoln, Rutland and Stamford Mercury'', the ''Rutland and Stamford Mercury'', and the ''Rutland Mercury'') based in Stamford, Lincolnshire, Stamford, Lincolnshire, England, claims to be "Britain's oldest cont ...

'', records that access to site had been restricted due to damage "by bands of modern Vandals". Brass effigies, some in place, others "strewed amongst the growing grass", and the entrance to a subterranean passageway were also observed. In 1938, Sackville Pelham, 5th Earl of Yarborough handed the care of the abbey remains to the Office of Works. The site is currently in the care of

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

and open to the public. It is necessary to book a visit in advance, and the interior spaces are closed at present.

Architecture

The founding abbey building from the 12th century was Romanesque in style, but nothing of it remains above ground. The later abbey from the 13th/14th centuries was built in Early Gothic style. Little remains of the building, except for three walls of 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 ...

and part of the

cloister A cloister (from Latin , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open Arcade (architecture), arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle (architecture), quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cat ...

, though the ground plan of the abbey is traced out. The main interest lies in the gatehouse which is among the earliest large-scale uses of brick in England. It stands three storeys high and is structurally intact. There are few windows in the building, and the internal dimensions are cramped due to the thickness of the walls. The outside of the building is adorned with three almost life-size statues directly above the gate. A bridge over the moat adjoins the gatehouse and is fortified with walls and

garderobe Garderobe is a historic term for a room in a medieval castle. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' gives as its first meaning a store-room for valuables, but also acknowledges "by extension, a private room, a bed-chamber; also a privy". The word der ...

s. The nearby Abbot's Lodge is also a Grade I listed building. Elements of the ground floor of the monastic range of Thornton Abbey were converted to a house and the first floor rebuilt in the 17th century, reputedly by Sir Vincent Skinner, but the structure collapsed upon completion.

Archaeology

Thornton Abbey was relatively under-examined for its size and importance, until English Heritage launched a programme of research beginning in 2007. This initial non-invasive research was followed by excavations performed by the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

Department of Archaeology between 2011 and 2016, directed by Hugh Willmott. In 2013, continuing excavation work uncovered a

Black Death The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...

plague pit A plague pit is the informal term used to refer to mass graves in which victims of the Black Death were buried. The term is most often used to describe pits located in Great Britain, but can be applied to any place where bubonic plague victims wer ...

in the cemetery of the abbey's hospital, containing the remains of at least 48 individuals including the skeletons of 27 children. DNA was successfully extracted and tested positive for ''

Yersinia pestis ''Yersinia pestis'' (''Y. pestis''; formerly ''Pasteurella pestis'') is a Gram-negative bacteria, gram-negative, non-motile bacteria, non-motile, coccobacillus Bacteria, bacterium without Endospore, spores. It is related to pathogens ''Yer ...

'', the bacterium responsible for the plague, making this the first instance in Britain of a Black Death mass grave found in a rural, rather than urban, area. Willmott stated: "The finding of a previously unknown and completely unexpected mass burial dating to this period in a quiet corner of rural Lincolnshire is thus far unique, and sheds light into the real difficulties faced by a small community ill-prepared to face such a devastating threat."

Burials at the abbey

William le Gros, 1st Earl of Albemarle William le Gros, William le Gras, William d'Aumale, William Crassus (died 20 August 1179) was Earl of York and Lord of Holderness in the English peerage and the Count of Aumale in France. He was the eldest son of Stephen, Count of Aumale, and his ...

*Aveline de Montfichet, wife of

William de Forz, 3rd Earl of Albemarle William de Forz, 3rd Earl of Albemarle ( 1190 − 26 March 1242) was an English nobleman. He is described by William Stubbs as "a feudal adventurer of the worst type". Family background Forz was the son of William de Forz (died 1195), and Ha ...

References

External links

Page on English Heritage's websiteBlog post on the plague pit excavation, including video clips
{{coord, 53.6550, -0.3098, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title English Heritage sites in Lincolnshire Ruins in Lincolnshire Monasteries in Lincolnshire Augustinian monasteries in England 1539 disestablishments in England Grade I listed buildings in Lincolnshire Christian monasteries established in the 1130s Museums in Lincolnshire Religious museums in England Gates in England 1139 establishments in England Ruined abbeys and monasteries Monasteries dissolved under the English Reformation