Record Details

Summary

The scheduled remains of the Benedictine Abbey, which was founded c.1002-1004 and surrendered in 1539. The church and Abbey were transformed into a Collegiate Church by the King in 1541, before being dissolved in 1545.

Monument Type(s):

• CHURCH (Anglo Saxon to POST MEDIEVAL - 1002 AD to 1799 AD)
• ABBEY (Anglo Saxon to Tudor - 1004 AD to 1539 AD)
• BOUNDARY WALL? (Norman to POST MEDIEVAL - 1066 AD to 1799 AD)

Associated Finds:

• ASSEMBLAGE (MEDIEVAL - 1066 AD to 1485 AD)

Associated Events:

• EST1696 - An archaeological desk-based assessment and post-excavation analysis of excavations at Abbey Inn, Burton-upon-Trent. (Ref: L9750)
• EST820 - Tree-ring analysis of timbers from the Manor House at Abbey Green, Burton upon Trent, November 1998. (NRHE Name - The Manor House, Abbey Green) (Ref: Report No. 11-1998)
• EST822 - An archaeological evaluation excavation at the Market Place, Burton on Trent, February 1997. (NRHE Name - The Market Place, Burton on Trent)
• EST1944 - Heritage at Risk Survey 2009 (West Midlands Region)
• EST1793 - An archaeological watching brief on land at Crossley House, Market Square, Burton-on-Trent, 2007. (NRHE Name - Land at Crossley House, Market Square)
• EST1694 - A geophysical survey at Burton Abbey. Burton-upon-Trent, December 2005. (NRHE Name - Burton Abbey, Burton-upon-Trent)
• EST2152 - Archaeological excavations at the Abbey, Burton upon Trent in 1975.

Protected Status:

• Scheduled Monument 1006084: Burton-upon-Trent Abbey

Full description

Church / Abbey: The Benedictine Abbey of Saint Mary and Saint Modwen, originally a Saxon foundation endowed in 1004 by Wulfric Spot. Dissolved 1539. A collegiate church from 1541. Dissolved 1545. <1>

The first Abbot was Wugetus, a monk from Winchester. <2>

The abbey flourished during the 13th-14th centuries. There were 30 monks in 1260. The land and buildings of the abbey were enclosed by a stone wall with gates on to the north, south and west. Surviving parts of this wall are of late 14th century date. <3>

Some fragments of medieval fabric survive in later buildings. Benedictine Abbey of Burton was built and endowed in 1004 by Wulfric Spot, earl of Mercia. The monks were brought here from Winchester. <4>

Some authorities quote 1002 AD as the foundation date. <5>

A plan at 25" scale shows abbey building buildings of the site of the present Market Hall. <6>

No trace of the church survives. Of the claustral buildings part of the west wall from the dorter range and most of the eastern part of the south wall of the chapter house survive. These fragments are mainly 13th century, including several windows. There is also a Norman doorway. <7>

Ryes plan should be accepted as accurate because it was made when the remains were much more extensive than they are now. There were also excavations on the site at this time, although nothing is now known of them. No trace of the Abbey church survives and all that remains of the claustral buildings are fragments of walling from the dorter range, 13th century pointed windows, parts of the chapter house walls, and an intact Norman doorway. The house known as 'The Abbey' (which is now Burton Club) is shown on Rye's plan as occupying some of the farm buildings. The house appears to be fairly modern, but does include older parts on the north and east sides. The north wall of the house contains two large rounded arches (the south arcade of the infirmary hall), and projecting from the east wall of the house is a massive external stone chimney stack. <7>

Medieval building debris has been recovered under post-medieval deposits in a trench excavated to the south of the Market Hall. <8>

An archaeological excavation within the scheduled area of Burton Abbey produced a series of modern deposits (to a depth of c. 0.75 metres. From below this demolition deposits, dated by fragments of medieval tile, were recovered. The only in-situ feature was the base of a narrow wall constructed of a series of five sandstone blocks and set on an east-west alignment. It is likely that this wall represented the remains of a boundary wall, small retaining wall or garden wall, rather than part of a substantial building. Putative garden deposits containing rubble, clay pipe fragments and post-medieval deposits were also encountered. Fragments of decorated and undecorated medieval floor tile were recovered from the deeper deposits. (SB, 20-Nov-2003) <8>

Roof timbers in the manor house have been dendrochronologically to 1340-1358, so the structure is pre-dissolution. <9>

Dendrochronological analysis of samples from twelve oak timbers in the roof and cellar of Manor House, Abbey Green resulted in an estimated felling date for the timbers of 1340-1358 AD. (SB, 11-Nov-2003) <9>

The plan of the seven bay nave and crossing ran east from the east wall of the market place. The east end is probably of similar length, running almost to the river. Other reconstructions shown to be poorly drawn, false or mislead by others. <10>

The discovery of two plans of Burton parish church, drawn c. 1700 before its demolition, enabled the reconsideration of the form of not only the parish church, but also of its predecessor (the Abbey church). Unfortunately the eastern arm was demolished before these plans were drawn, but it does allow the reconsideration of Stebbing Shaw's plan (see Source ST594), Henry Rye's derivation from this (see Source ST1059), and also the existence of a west transept at Burton. It is clear that Shaw's plan cannot relate to Burton as the measurements do not fit, nor do the number of bays in the nave. It is also evident that Burton Abbey is one of a growing number of such buildings where historians have been led into assuming that a west transept existed for the church, when in fact it did not have one. (SB, 20-Nov-2003) <10>

In 1896 it was shown by F. Baring that the censarii (or rent-paying tenants) on some Burton Abbey Manors in Staffordshire and Derbyshire had been omitted from the Domesday account for the abbey, thus falsifying the number and character of the population. (SB, 19-Nov-2003) <11>

Burton-upon-Trent Abbey and it's surrounds were scheduled in July 1976. The scheduled area includes the site of the market hall and the manor house. (SB, 20-Nov-2003) <12>

Scheduled monument consent was granted for the repair of the boundary wall to the grounds of the abbey in April 2004. (SB, 29-Apr-2004) <13>

An assessment of the area surrounding the Abbey Inn identified three broad phases of activity. Phase I comprised structural features forming what appears to have been part of the Abbey infirmary's 'great hall', dating from AD 1316-29, with a single earlier deposit recorded beneath some of the foundations of the building. A 1.1m thick load-bearing wall that follows the alignment of the extant Abbey Inn's eastern external elevation was uncovered; this wall runs north/south, is sandstone and appeared to possess a rubble core. This wall was faced on the western side, suggesting that this was the internal face, and part of a below-ground entrance, possibly the undercroft recorded as being part of the Infirmary. A smoothed and squared sandstone pier-base was also excavated to the west of the load-bearing wall; this pier-base was adjacent to a sandstone foundation aligned in an east-west direction, visible to a length of1.58m and a width of 0.38m, butting against the north face of the pier base. This wall foundation comprised irregularly coursed masonry bonded with sand. The size of the pier-base suggests that it supported a load-bearing column, in turn supporting the weight of a superstructure. A second sandstone pier base was discovered to the east of the first, comprising a 1 x 1.5m structure constructed from roughly hewn or undressed sandstone blocks and slabs, forming two irregular courses. These were overlain by a third, flat-topped course, covered in a yellow sandy mortar. The pier bases are thought to have been constructed as part of the same phase of building and formed elements of an internal structure, possibly supporting the undercroft ceiling and elements of the structure above. Whilst no floor was identified, a layer of compacted mortar and sand was observed to the east of the western pier-base, which may have been a levelling layer for the original floor of the undercroft, possibly comprising stone flags. Phase II, the post-medieval phase, comprised a succession of demolition layers comprising loose, silty and clay sands containing frequent fragments of sandstone ashlar blocks, mortar and occasional lumps of charcoal. The pottery assemblages from these layers range from the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries, suggesting that they were residual within the demolition deposits. Two later deposits included river pebbles that were likely to have been deposited by alluvial activity and could indicate management of the river Fleet and redeposition of dredged material on its banks. An east-west aligned stone drain was uncovered, leading to the river Fleet, which is built from sandstone masonry and is presumed to have originated from the Benedictine Monastery and be of 18th century date. The third phase consists of modern activity that probably represents landscaping and levelling activity in this period. (LH, 31-Jul-2007) <15>

No artefacts or features of archaeological significance were identified during the extension of Crossley House. (LH, 13-Dec-2007) <16>

A large stone block supported by a layer of bricks was found. The stone block extended over the width of the trench and from the western side to 1.5 metres from the eastern baulk. The block was 0.07 metres thick an immediately underlay red gravel. The layer of brick was 0.10 metres deep. A series of five sandstone blocks placed on their sides across the width of the trench. They were up to 0.12 metres wide and ranged from 0.20 metres to 0.6 metres long. The blocks were very irregular in shape and it seems more likely that they formed a boundary wall rather than any aspect of a substantial structure. Due to its depth, very little of the feature was uncovered (0.96 metres) before the limit to which one could dig was reached. (HC, 16/09/2008) <17>

Burton Abbey was founded and endowed by Wulfric in c.1004. If there had been an earlier any earlier religious house, as the tradition asserts, it must have been destroyed by the Danes in the 870s before Alfred's treaty with Guthrun. The new monastery was a Benedictine one built on the western bank of the River Trent. The first abbot and monks came from Winchester and this connection was maintained. In 1008-1012 it was called the monastery of St Benedict and All Saints but was known as the Abbey of St Mary in 1086 and occasionally as the abbey of St Mary and St Modwen. (DAT, 20/02/2012) <18>

Significant fabric of Burton Abbey also exists at the rear of the Market Hall including parts of a wall & the doorway into chapter house. This has been rebuilt and sculptural fabric from the abbey included that is out of situ but the chapter house doorway is in place as can be seen from the Winery garden where the bases of the chapter house columns are visible. Stone from the abbey appears to have been recycled in several places e.g. Memorial Garden walls, ‘bridge’ Watson Street. (DAT, 20/02/2012) <19>

The Benedictine Abbey of Saint Mary and Saint Modwen was founded in AD 1002 by Wulfric Spott and confirmed in 1004 by a charter of King Ethelred. There were some twelve monks resident in 1539 when the house was suppressed. It was refounded in 1541 as a college for a dean, the last abbot, and four prebendaries, but this was dissolved in 1545. No trace of the abbey church survived, and all that is left of the claustral buildings is a fragment of the west wall of the dorter range and most of the eastern part of the south wall of the chapter house. The wall of the dorter range contains the lower half of the chapter house doorway, two 13th century windows and an intact Norman doorway to the slype or parlour. The south wall of the chapter house stands to a maximum height of 4 metres and contains three 13th century windows. The house called 'The Abbey', now the Burton Club, includes old work on the north and east sides. The north wall includes two large round arches (the south arcade of the infirmary) with the respond of the first arch of the western arcade. On the east wall of the house is a massive external stone chimney-stack. Two fragments survive of an old wall on the line of the precinct wall.
The founding of the first religious house in Burton on Trent is attributed to the Irish Abbess Saint Modwen in the 7th century. The 11th century Abbey, dedicated to Saint Mary and Saint Modwen, was founded between 1002-1004. The Abbey precincts were bounded on the east by the Trent and on the west by the High Street and Lichfield Street. The present parish church of Saint Modwen is on the site of the Abbey church. South of this, now largely covered by the market hall, lay the cloisters and beyond these the inner and outer courtyards leading to the West gate which stood, until its demolition in 1927, at the junction of High Street and New Street. The building known as the Burton Abbey Club stands on the site of the abbey infirmary and incorporates some of the monastic remains.
Excavations carried out in 1975 at the site of the infirmary of Burton Abbey revealed two phases of walls with floors in association, belonging to buildings of the 14th century. A ditch had been constructed and filled in again before any building took place on this part of the site, and a large pit underneath the floors caused them to subside. The destruction of the monastic buildings was represented by a robber trench and other debris. A brick wall was later built across the site. This was demolished and the site became part of a garden.
Discovery of two plans of the abbey church, drawn about 1700 before the destruction of the church, clearly show no trace of any western transepts. It is considered that Shaw's plan, and Rye's derivation of it, are mistaken. (SB, 18-Feb-2014) <20>

Identified as being at risk on the 2009 Heritage at Risk Register. (RH, 14-Jun-2016)<21>

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