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Summary

The site of the Anglo-Saxon monastery of Crowland that was detroyed by the Vikings.

Full description

PRN23519
THIS IS THE RECORD FOR THE MIDDLE ANGLO-SAXON MONASTERY AT CROWLAND THAT WAS DESTROYED BY THE VIKINGS IN ABOUT AD870.

St Guthlac is believed to have arrived in AD699, establishing a hermitage composed of an oratory, a guesthouse and a number of cells for himself and his followers. These structures are thought to have been scattered over the whole of the original peninsula of Crowland, in some cases superimposed on the remains of pre-Christian burial mounds, as at Anchor Church House. Some of the buildings of this eremitical monastery, in particular the oratory and the cell of St Guthlac, are linked by medieval tradition to the site of the later abbey church. Traditionally the house was founded by King Ethelbald in 714. It was destroyed by the Danes in 870 and re-founded as a Benedictine abbey in the mid-tenth century. {1}{11}
The legally protected scheduled monument includes the ruins of part of the abbey church, the buried remains of the Anglo-Saxon hermitage, the monastery, medieval monastic buildings, and the earthworks of the civil war defences (22051). Excluded from the scheduling are the walls and fabric of the present parish church and its tower, though not the ruins attached to them; the church yard walls and gateways, which are listed; and all gravestones, 161 of which are listed; the ground beneath these features is, however, included. In the south-western part of the churchyard, which is still in use as a cemetery, the graves, gravestones and earth to a depth of 2m, are excluded from the scheduling although the ground beneath this depth is included. {11}

<1> OS CARD INDEX, TF 21 SW:1,1965, D.A. (Index). SLI2461.

<2> CLAPHAM A W, 1932, ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL, VOL 89 P 349-51 (Article in Serial). SLI305.

<3> William Page (ed), 1906, The Victoria County History: Lincolnshire - Volume 2, VOL 2 P 105-18 (Bibliographic Reference). SLI1104.

<4> D. Knowles and R.N. Hadcock, 1953, Medieval Religious Houses: England and Wales - First Edition, P 63 (Bibliographic Reference). SLI902.

<5> SMR FILE, TF 21 SW:G - (Index). SLI2980.

<6> Nikolaus Pevsner and John Harris, 1964, Buildings of England: Lincolnshire (First Edition), - (Bibliographic Reference). SLI860.

<7> William White, 1856, History, Gazetteer and Directory of Lincolnshire - Second Edition, pp 822-23 (Bibliographic Reference). SLI886.

<8> HBMC, AM 7, SAM 263 (Scheduling Record). SLI4207.

<9> Hayes, P. P. and Lane, T. W., 1992, The Fenland Project No.5: Lincolnshire Survey, the South-West Fens, GAZ CRO42 PP202-4 (Bibliographic Reference). SLI1079.

<10> ENGLISH HERITAGE, 1994, REVISED SCHEDULING DOCUMENT 22613, MPP 23 (Scheduling Record). SLI4247.

<11> MOORE, REV J., PARISH FILE, - (Unpublished Document). SLI4747.

Monument Types

• ABBEY (Early Medieval/Dark Age - 714 AD to 870 AD)
• RELIGIOUS HOUSE (Early Medieval/Dark Age - 714 AD to 870 AD)

Protected Status

• Conservation Area
• Scheduled Monument

Sources and further reading

Related records

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