Reasons for Designation
From the time of St Augustine's mission to re-establish Christianity in AD 597
to the reign of Henry VIII, monasticism formed an important facet of both
religious and secular life in the British Isles. Settlements of religious
communities, including monasteries, were built to house communities of monks,
canons (priests), and sometimes lay-brothers, living a common life of
religious observance under some form of systematic discipline. It is estimated
from documentary evidence that over 700 monasteries were founded in England.
These ranged in size from major communities with several hundred members to
tiny establishments with a handful of brethren. They belonged to a wide
variety of different religious orders, each with its own philosophy. As a
result, they vary considerably in the detail of their appearance and layout,
although all possess the basic elements of church, domestic accommodation for
the community, and work buildings. Monasteries were inextricably woven into
the fabric of medieval society, acting not only as centres of worship,
learning, and charity, but also, because of the vast landholdings of some
orders, as centres of immense wealth and political influence. They were
established in all parts of England, some in towns and others in the remotest
of areas. Many monasteries acted as the foci of wide networks including parish
churches, almshouses, hospitals, farming estates and tenant villages. Some 225
of these religious houses belonged to the order of St Augustine. The
Augustinians were not monks in the strict sense, but rather communities of
canons - or priests - living under the rule of St Augustine. In England they
came to be known as `black canons' because of their dark coloured robes and to
distinguish them from the Cistercians who wore light clothing. From the 12th
century onwards, they undertook much valuable work in the parishes, running
almshouses, schools and hospitals as well as maintaining and preaching in
parish churches. It was from the churches that they derived much of their
revenue. The Augustinians made a major contribution to many facets of medieval
life and all of their monasteries which exhibit significant surviving
archaeological remains are worthy of protection.
Malmesbury Abbey has a written history covering 1300 years. Although today
little of the monastic complex remains visible, extensive buried remains will
survive and the monument is important as a site with early origins and which
continued in use as a monastic house until its dissolution in 1535.
Subsequently, the nave of the Abbey church has continued in use to the present
day.
Details
The monument includes those parts of the Benedictine monastery, known as
Malmesbury Abbey, that are no longer in ecclesiastical use. The Abbey has its
origins in the early 7th century as part of a Saxon hilltop settlement.
Though its early history is uncertain, there are references to a nunnery
founded in c.603 AD, though a more likely date for its establishment is 637 AD
when the Irish monk Maeldulph established a hermitage at Malmesbury. The
monastery itself was established sometime between 675 AD and 705 AD under the
abbacy of Adhelm, though its dedication is not known for sure. However by the
10th century, 965 to 974 AD, the monastery had become established as a house
of the Benedictine order. The surviving buildings were commenced under Bishop
Roger between 1118 to 1139 AD and completed at around 1160 to 1170. It
continued in the Benedictine order until its dissolution on the 15th of
December in 1539. The Abbey was subsequently sold by Henry VIII's
Commissioners to the clothier William Stumpe, for the sum of 1517 pounds and
15 shillings. He built the present Abbey House on the site of some of the
monastic buildings and gave the nave of the Abbey church to the people of
Malmesbury as their parish church in 1541.
The abbey church was formerly of massive proportions, reaching its peak in
the 14th century when the nave and choir were some 86m long, the lady chapel
at the east end a further 12m long and 21m wide and the cloister to the north
of the church measured 32m square. Following the Dissolution only nine bays
of the nave survived to be used as the parish church; this was subsequently
reduced to the six bays that survive today following the collapse of the west
tower in the 16th century. The monastic buildings, none of which are now
upstanding, stood on the north side of the church and consisted of the
cloister immediately north of the church with the frater beyond, the chapter
house to the east of the cloister and the dorter north of the chapter house,
stretching east in the area now occupied by the 16th century Abbey House. A
major part of this building's undercroft belonged to the rere-dorter of the
abbey. Fragments of architectural detail reused in later buildings can be
seen over a wide area of Malmesbury.
The portion of the abbey church still in ecclesiastical use, all modern
buildings and structures, all boundary features and all metalled surfaces are
excluded from the scheduling, though the ground beneath them is included.
MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
