Cookham Abbey

Situated south of the Thames, Cookham was traditionally part of Wessex, but being near a Roman crossing point the abbey was captured in 733 by Æthelbald of Mercia. At some point between 740 and 757, Æthelbald gave the monastery with its deeds to Christ Church, (Canterbury Cathedral). After the death of Archbishop Cuthbert in 760, the deeds were stolen by two of the archbishop's pupils, Daegheah and Osbert, and given to Cynewulf of Wessex, who took possession of the monastery. In 779 after the Battle of Bensington, Offa of Mercia once again took the monastery and the missing deeds became a cause of much dissension, often mentioned in church councils. Before he died in 786, Cynewulf sent the…