| Summary : Chapel and grange of Newminster Abbey. Ranulph de Merlay included Nunnykirk in a grant of land to Newminster Abbey, and a chapel, tower and other buildings were built there. Newminster Abbey was founded by Ranulph de Merlay, the first abbot being appointed in 1138, so the grange dates to about that time. Between 1467 and 1500 a tower was built for the security of the religious. In the past, human remains have been observed. There are no extant earthworks in the area around the present Nunnykirk House. Nearby fishponds appear to be C20th. The so-called Monk's Well or Abbess's Well gives no indication of its date. The grange and tower were demolished in 1825. |
More information : Chapel and Grange of Newminster Abbey, and a Tower
connected with same at Nunnykirk. (1)
Grange at Nonnekirk. (2)
The Font issues from a deep rocky dell, and continues its course on
the west side of the haugh and the house (Nunnykirk) in a southern
direction. This place was comprised in Ranulph de Merlay's grant of
Ritton to Newminster, the abbot of which house built a chapel,
tower and other edifaces here, all traces of which are now gone.
Buried foundations and human bones have been found in sinking for
new foundations. (3)
In the appendix to the cartulary of Newminster Abbey
(a) the editor quotes the assignment of Newminster Abbey and other
lands belonging to it, in which Nunnykirk is described as a Grange.
From this we have clear evidence that Nunnykirk, from soon after
1138 to the dissolution of the monasteries, was in ecclesiastical
hands. (4)
Nunnykirk was completely rebuilt in 1810. Its present owner has
never heard of the finding of buried foundations or human bones
supposed to have been discovered on the site. The grounds were
perambulated but no trace of the monastic site found. The fishponds,
centred at NZ 0868 9236, appear to be modern and are now choked
with reeds and are disused. The Abbess's Well or Monk's Well, at
NZ 08129251, is a small stone-lined cist set into the bed of the
River Font, below the bank, its surface just above the water level.
There are no signs of a spring. The stones are moss-covered, well
shaped and bonded, but offer no dating evidence. (5)
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