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Summary

Two sections of a wall at Buckland Abbey were originally thought to be remnants of the medieval precinct wall. Doubt, however, has now been thrown on this interpretation. The two sections may in fact be post-medieval in date, associated with the remodelling of the grounds as part of the abbey's conversion to a mansion house.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1018366: Buckland Abbey
• Listed Building (II) 1318234: GATE PIERS AND ADJOINING WALL TO SOUTH-SOUTH-EAST APPROXIMATELY 20 METRES TO SOUTH-EAST OF BUCKLAND ABBEY

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: 1141921
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX46NE/501/14
• Old Listed Building Ref (II): 92637
• Old SAM Ref: 24846
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SX46NE44
• Tide Project: 10/07/2020

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• WALL (Built, Early Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD (Between) to 1750 AD (Between))

Full description

Gaskell-Brown, C., 1986 - 1987, Buckland Abbey, Devon, 3 (Report - Survey). SDV242027.

A length of 'precinct' wall south-east of the Tithe Barn may be connected with a licence to crenellate granted in 1537.

Gibbons, P., 1994, 134699 (Un-published). SDV241967.

Part of the line of the precinct of Buckland Abbey has been identified with two short lengths of walling. Adjacent to the south-east corner of the barn there is a substantial wall some 10 metres in length and 4.5 metres high which includes two slit windows, internally splayed with round headed arches. There is an inset beneath the windows that probably indicates a floor level. A longer section of walling survives to the east of the linhay, it has four slit windows of identical design, but no inset. Both sections of wall contain putlog holes.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 1998, Buckland Abbey (Schedule Document). SDV344044.

Part of the Medieval precinct wall survives at Buckland Abbey. Other details: Monument 24846.

Nicholas Pearson Associates, 2001, Buckland Abbey: Historic Survey and Restoration Plan, App. 3 (Report - Survey). SDV241983.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 2001, SX46NE44 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV346350.

National Monuments Record, 2011, 1141921 (National Monuments Record Database). SDV346351.

The remains of the monastic precinct of Buckland Abbey. The land forming the monastic precinct was traditionally enclosed behind all the buildings and structures, both agricultural and industrial, associated with the degree of self sufficiency that the abbey was capable of sustaining. At Buckland part of the line of the precinct has been identified with two short lengths of walling. Adjacent to the south east corner of the barn there is a substantial wall some 10 metres in length and 4.5 metres high which includes two slit windows, internally splayed with round headed arches. There is an inset beneath the windows that probably indicates a floor level. A longer section of walling survives to the east of the Linhay, it has flour slit windows of identical design, but no inset. Both sections of wall contain putlog (scaffolding) holes.

English Heritage, 2011, Historic Houses Register (List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest). SDV346128.

Gate piers and adjoining wall to the south-south-east approximately 20 metres to the south-east of Buckland Abbey was Listed on 26th January 1987. The gate piers are 18th century and altered probably in the 19th century. Granite ashlar square piers with reconstituted sandstone finials, which replace the original ones. The finial is pointed with a fleur-de-lys shape carved at the top, at the base of the finial is a cusped gable on each side. Immediately adjoining to the east-north-east is a short section of rubble wall re-using a Medieval pointed granite arched doorway with rebated moulding. Other details: LBS Number 92637.

Ordnance Survey, 2011, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV346129.

Blaylock, S. + Dudley, P., 2016, Buckland Abbey, Devon: Recording and Assessment, 83-85 (Report - Survey). SDV361402.

The slightly odd form of the features incorporated in the wall, when compared to similar slit windows elsewhere, the inconsistencies in the construction of the reveals/embrasures (including re-used materials), and the occasional presence of granite blocks (not routinely occurring in early fabric at Buckland), all contribute to the suspicions surrounding this wall. The fact that no walls are mapped in this position until the first edition of the OS 1:2500 map in 1884 must suggest that these walls originate in the tidying up of the site, in the mid–late 19th century rather than anything earlier. That there must have been many architectural fragments and complete features available around the site is confirmed by their re-use in other, demonstrably late, contexts: for example the north gable of the Linhay, nearby, which displays a comparable slit window. In this author’s view the uniform character and neat appearance of the rubble masonry and copings of the walls also tends to confirm this interpretation and dating. All in all it is considered that the various incongruities of the six slit windows in the boundary wall combine to suggest that they have been re-used from elsewhere on the site or made up from fragments at a relatively recent date and they are not considered to be in situ medieval windows. The question of the date and phasing of this wall remains: it is cut by the construction of the School Room, which is present on the 1884 OS map and is generally of later 19th century appearance and materials; the origin of the wall may therefore be in the range of farm buildings running south from the Monastic Farm Building shown on the Tithe map (but gone by 1884). Nothing on the right alignment is shown by Aislabie in 1769, so the overall date range is 1769–1884. The boundary shown on the Tithe map cannot be simply interpreted as this boundary wall, however, in view of the failure to align with the south end of the Great Barn, so there has probably been some alteration, perhaps after the construction of the Linhay in the mid–late 19th century. It therefore seems best to assign the wall in its surviving state(s) to this later period, notwithstanding the possibility that part of it is shown on the Tithe map.
Report presents a full summary of a detailed historic building record.

Cornwall Archaeological Unit, 2017, South Cornwall Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey Desk-Based Assessment, 1014 (Interpretation). SDV360825.

Historic building analysis undertaken in 2016 casts doubt on the interpretation of the two sections of walling at Buckland Abbey being the remnants of a precinct wall to the Abbey. Instead, these are suggested as being post-medieval in date and associated with the remodelling of the grounds surrounding the former monastic church as part of its conversion to a substantial mansion house.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV9107 - Historic Building Recording and Rapid Archaeological Assessment, Buckland Abbey (Ref: 2016R061)

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