Flaxley Abbey

Flaxley Abbey was founded in 1151 by Roger Fitzmiles, 2nd Earl of Hereford as a Cistercian monastery. It was allegedly founded on the spot where his father, Miles of Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford, was killed while hunting in the Forest of Dean in 1143. The monks who built the abbey came from Bordesley Abbey founded in Worcestershire in 1138. In the late 12th century, it was noted that Pope Celestine III and Pope Alexander III granted the monks of Flaxley Abbey special immunity from tithes. The monastery came under royal protection during the reign of King Henry II and was used as a royal hunting quarters. In 1227 King Henry III gave a grant to Flaxley Abbey to the woods, called Abbot's…

.]] Flaxley Abbey was purchased in 1648 by the London merchant, lawyer and philosopher James Boevey (1622–1696), with his half-brother William. It subsequently passed to Catherina Boevey, following her brief marriage to William Boevey (James Boevey's son). She bequeathed the house to Thomas Crawley (later styled Crawley-Boevey) on her death in 1727. The family succeeded by special remainder to the Crawley-Boevey baronetcy (created in 1784 for Sir Charles Barrow, 1st Baronet who died 1789). During this time the house was substantially rebuilt by the designs of architect Anthony Keck. As baronets the manor and the estate continued to pass down from father to eldest son. Flaxley Abbey remained…