Tupholme Abbey: a Premonstratensian abbey and post-medieval houses and formal gardens

Heritage listing

Details The monument includes the remains of Tupholme Abbey, a Premonstratensian monastery founded between 1155-65 on land granted by Alan and Gilbert de Neville. In 1342 the manor of Ranby was granted to the abbey by Ralph de Neville. Tupholme was a relatively small establishment of up to 12 canons and had limited endowments in the county of Lincolnshire. Along with other Lincolnshire monastic sites Tupholme was involved in the wool export trade, although to a lesser extent than other houses. To assist in this trade it was linked to the River Witham by a navigable waterway granted by Henry II. The abbey was dissolved in 1536 and the property granted to Sir Thomas Heneage of Hainton. Thereafter the site was occupied by a country house, demolished around the beginning of the 18th century and replaced in the 19th century by cottages and a farmhouse, which were themselves dismantled in 1986. The remains of the medieval monastery are therefore intermingled with those of the post-medieval house and farms and the monument includes the earthworks and standing remains of medieval and post-medieval buildings, ponds, ditches and associated features. The monument is situated approximately 2km south east of Bardney on a low island of sand and gravel within an area of former marshland. The remains take the form of a group of earthworks, standing remains and buried archaeological deposits identified by aerial survey, which cover an area approximately 350m by 300m. The centre of the monument is occupied by the standing remains of the south wall of the abbey's refectory, a Grade I Listed structure which is included in the scheduling. The wall is comprised of coursed limestone rubble with ashlar dressings, and survives to a maximum of 5.4m in height and up to 23m in length. It includes

From the Historic England List Entry under OGL v3.