Turvey Abbey is located in the
village
A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...
of
Turvey in the
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Culture, language and peoples
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
* ''English'', an Amish ter ...
county of
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...
. It is dated 1605 on the north facade and 1608 on the south facade.
The building is stone, with a tile roof.
A dovecote, which no longer belongs to the Abbey, is a
Grade II
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 ...
listed building.
Current usage
It now belongs to the "Priory of Our Lady of Peace", 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 ...
order of
nun
A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...
s. It is a Roman Catholic community living according to the
Rule of Saint Benedict
The ''Rule of Saint Benedict'' () is a book of precepts written in Latin by St. Benedict of Nursia (c. AD 480–550) for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot.
The spirit of Saint Benedict's Rule is summed up in the motto of th ...
and affiliated to the
Olivetan
The Olivetans, formally known as the Order of Our Lady of Mount Olivet, are a monastic order. They were founded in 1313 and recognised in 1344. They use the Rule of Saint Benedict and are a member of the Benedictine Confederation, where they are ...
family of Benedictines. The Abbey is not open to the public, but the community welcomes guests.
The "Monastery of Christ our Saviour", while adjacent, is not part of Turvey Abbey.
History
The original part of Turvey Abbey was built in 1603. According to the English Heritage Register it may incorporate a building even earlier than this.
The tenants who lived in the house for the longest period during this time were the Brands. Thomas Brand (died 1694) and his wife Margaret (died 1718) moved to the house in about 1670. They were Catholic recusants and are mentioned in numerous records.
William Laurence and Sarah Steward were married in 1750 in Bedford. They had six children one of whom (Thomas Laurence) was a churchwarden. William died in 1766 when all of his children were very young. In his will he made provision for his family.
In 1786 the Mordant family sold their land in Turvey. In the advertisement Sarah Laurence is mentioned as the tenant for the farm with "The Abbey". It was bought by Charles Higgins, a very wealthy merchant from London. He used it as his country house and allowed Sarah to continue living in it by dividing the building and the garden into two parts. He also made some major repairs to the property at this time. When he died in 1792 the house was inherited.
John Higgins (1768–1846) had a strong passion for "The Abbey". Even before he inherited it he made visits to Turvey to see it. He describes these in his memoirs. He said:
:''"In the 1781 Turvey Abbey was first seen by the writer of this memoir on his way to Bedford. The place caught his attention and exited considerable interest but he got no further account of it than that it was a farm and was called the Abbey.''
:''About three years afterwards he was invited with some friends by the steward (employed by the Mordaunts) to a days fishing. Whilst they were taking refreshing draughts of punch in the garden of the Fishes Public House (now the Three Fyshes) he ran up the street to take a view of the old house and examined as much as he thought he might be permitted to do of the outside of the building."''
He made a sketch of the front and back of the house at this time which he included in his memoirs.
In about 1801 John made some additions to the house. He built a new coach house with a clock (now called Brand House) and added balustrading and two mullioned windows brought from Easton Maudit. Later he built a walled garden and a Gothic summer house.
[Maynard, John, 1994, "A Brief History of Turvey Abbey". p. 9]
Online reference
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See also
* List of monastic houses in Bedfordshire
The following is a list of the monastic houses in Bedfordshire, England.
Alien houses are included, as are smaller establishments such as Monastic cell, cells and notable monastic granges (particularly those with resident monks), and also ca ...
References
External links
*
Local history page about the houseVisiting informationwikimapiaThe Abbey c1955, TurveyHistorical information on the village of Turvey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turvey Abbey
Country houses in Bedfordshire
Benedictine nunneries in England
Historic house museums in Bedfordshire
Grade II listed buildings in Bedfordshire
Olivetan monasteries