Newenham Abbey

Newenham Abbey was a Cistercian abbey in Devon, England, a short distance south-west of the town of Axminster. The land was granted by Reginald de Mohun for the founding of the abbey in January 1247, and the foundation charter was witnessed by Richard, Bishop of Exeter. The mother house of Newenham was Beaulieu Abbey.^[1]

The abbey suffered greatly at the time of the Black Death in 1349, losing almost all its monks.^[2] Knowles and Hadcock state that twenty monks and three lay brothers died, leaving alive the abbot and two monks. In 1377 there were seven monks.

At the Dissolution of the Monasteries the abbot and nine monks were granted pensions dating from 9 March 1539. The remains of the abbey have been scheduled as an Ancient Monument. Some fragments of the abbey can be found re-used in buildings in Axminster.

See also

• History of Medieval Arabic and Western European domes

References

1. David Knowles and R. Neville Hadcock, "Medieval Religious Houses in England and Wales", Longman, 1971, p. 123.
2. Benedict Gummer, "The Scourging Angel", The Bodley Head, 2009, p.121.

Coordinates: 50°46′30″N 3°00′00″W / 50.7750°N 3.0000°W