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Thornton Abbey
In the civil parish of Thornton Curtis.
In the historic county of Lincolnshire (Modern Authority of North Lincolnshire, 1974 county of Humberside).
Impressive brick gatehouse constructed late C13. licensed in 1382, from which Gatehouse was enlarged and barbican built. Little remains of Abbey and precinct wall, which would have been to large to be readily defensible, but gatehouse remains intact and is large and more military than most other abbey gateways. It is a three storey structure built largely of brick with limestone ashlar dressings and decorative details. It was built in the 1360s and enlarged and defended after licence to fortify was granted to the abbey in 1382 and appears to have had an administrative function since it contained the Abbot's exchequer and courthouse. Licence repeated in 1388
This site has been described as a;
Fortified Ecclesiastical site.
The confidence
that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Major remains.
A Royal licence
to crenellate was
granted in 1382 Aug 6.
A Royal licence
to crenellate was
granted in 1389 May 6.
This site is a scheduled
monument protected by law.
This site is a
Grade 1 listed
building protected by law*. (Images
of England number 165878)
The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TA11511896
PastScape number;
80449
- Web site links
- Books
- Harrison, Peter, 2004, Castles of God (Woodbridge; Boydell Press) p85-6
Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern) p69 [slight]
Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses Vol2 (Cambridge) p316
Brooke, C.J., 2000, Safe Sanctuaries (Edinburgh; John Donald) p8
Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p147-8
Platt, C., 1990, The Architecture of Medieval Britain (New Haven and London: Yale University Press) p210
Pevsner, N. and J Harris, 1978, The Buildings of England: Lincolnshire (London) p400-2
Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol3 (London) p4-6
Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p231-3, 419, 420
- Journal Articles
- Coulson, C., 1982, 'Hierarchism in Conventual Crenellation: An Essay in the Sociology and Metaphysics of Medieval Fortification' Medieval Archaeology Vol26 p69-100
- Guidebooks
- Clapham, Alfred and Reynolds, P.K.Baillie, 1989, Thornton Abbey (English Heritage)
Clapham, Alfred and Reynolds, P.K.Baillie, 1951, Thornton Abbey (HMSO)
- Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents
- This section is far from complete and the secondary
sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Calendar of Patent Rolls (1381-85) p166
Calendar of Patent Rolls (1389-92) p28
- Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
Most of the sites or buildings
recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission
to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant |
The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English
Heritage and other individuals and organisations. |
It is an offence to disturb a
Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of
everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from any site
without proper recording and reporting. Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation. |
Please help me to make this as
useful a resource as possible by contacting
me if you see errors
or if you can add information.
I do acknowledge the help I get with
this site. |
*The listed building
may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site
of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.
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