York Abbey

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; St Marys Abbey; The Kings Manor

In the civil parish of York.
In the historic county of Yorkshire Ainsty & York (Modern Authority of York, 1974 county of North Yorkshire).

C12 Benedictine abbey and monastery. Originally founded as the minster of St Olave at Galmanho before 1055, it was refounded as a Benedictine monastery as part of an exchange of land between the Archbishop of York and monk Stephen of Whitby by 1068. Following a visit by William Rufus circa 1086-9, the church was found to be too small for the brethren and William granted land adjacent to the church to expand the abbey. A new church was built and rededicated to St Mary. It was the first monastic establishment founded in Yorkshire after the Conquest and became one of the wealthiest abbeys of the order and had a mitred Abbot who sat in the House of Lords. The chief portions remaining are the late C13 north aisle with arcading and traceried windows, the adjoining west wall and doorway, most of C13 precinct wall, towers and gatehouse. Licence to crenellate granted in 1318. The abbey precinct wall forms part of York Town Wall. The Abbot's House, constructed by Abbot Sevier 1485-95, altered and rebuilt in 1541, additions of 1572. Offices of the King's Council of the North and occasional royal residence 1539-1641.

This site has been described as a;
Fortified Ecclesiastical site
Urban Defence
Palace.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Major remains.

listed building

Images of England

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SE59945217

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 1406756, 56602, 58182

Books

Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles and Tower Houses of Yorkshire (Malvern) p119
Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses Vol1 (Cambridge) p319
Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p282-5
Pevsner, D. and Neave, D., 1995. The Buildings of England: Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (London, Penguin) p181-6
Thurley, Simon, 1993, The Royal Palaces of Tudor England (Yale University Press) p50, 57
Colvin, H.M., Ransome, D.R. and Summerson, John, 1982, The history of the King's Works Vol4: 1485-1660 (part 2) (London) p355-64
Waterman, R.D., 1980, The Bars and Walls of York: a Survey. An Assessment of their Condition and State of Repair, [City Engineer’s Department]
RCHME, 1975. An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the City of York: 4, the North-east (London, HMSO), 3-24
RCHME, 1972. An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the City of York, 2: The Defences (London, HMSO)
Knowles, David and Hadcock, R Neville, 1971, Medieval religious houses in England and Wales (Longman) p82, 487
Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p407

Journal Articles

Coulson, C., 1982, 'Hierarchism in Conventual Crenellation: An Essay in the Sociology and Metaphysics of Medieval Fortification' Medieval Archaeology Vol26 p69-100
Whittingham, A.B., 1971, 'St Mary's Abbey, York: an interpretation of its plan' Archaeological Journal Vol128 p116-46

Guidebooks

Wilson, C. and Burton, J., 1988. St Mary's Abbey, York (York)

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 (1317-21) p190

Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)

Speed, John, 1611-12, The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain [http://faculty.oxy.edu/horowitz/home/johnspeed/Cities30.htm]
William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/yorkseng.html#yorks22]

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.

¤¤¤¤¤