Spinney Abbey

Spinney became a private property and was owned by various persons, including Sir Edward Peyton who had been a prominent leader of the puritan party during the reign of Charles I.

The new house – the current building – was built in 1775. The cellar of the original priory still survives below and in it the great stones of the mediaeval masons are seen, along with some iron fittings which have perhaps inevitably gained the reputation of being the remains of mediaeval prisoners' restraints – although there is no evidence to support such a tale. Other older parts are incorporated into the building – some of the old priory doors, for example. The farm had problems with flooding, and until the installation of the diesel pumps which still drain it today, this has always been a difficulty. A number of tenants came and went with little success. By 1883 the owner and occupier…