Name: NEWMINSTER Location: nr Morpeth
County: Northumberland Foundation: 1138 Mother house: Fountains Relocation: None Founder: Ranulf de Merlay, lord of
Morpeth Dissolution: 1537 Prominent members: Access: Open to the public
In 1138 Ranulf de Merlay, lord of Morpeth, established
the abbey of Newminster, which was one of the first daughter houses
of Fountains.
Under the energetic leadership of the first abbot, St. Robert,
who presided over the community from 1138 until 1159, Newminster
became one of the largest
Cistercian abbeys in the north of England. During this time three
colonies of monks were sent to establish daughter houses at Pipewell (1143), Roche (1147)
and Sawley (1147).(1) By
the later thirteenth century, Newminster also had two hospitals
dependent upon it,
at
Mitford and Allerburn.(2)
The abbey also owned vast tracts of land,
which extended to the Scottish border. However, the location of
the abbey did mean that it was vulnerable to border raids at the
hands of the Scots. In the assessment of 1535 the annual net income
of the abbey was valued at £100 although in 1536 theincome
was returned as £265. Whilst the monks resisted, the abbey
was dissolved in the first round of closures, in 1537.(3)
Following
the Dissolution the abbey was acquired by the Grey family who later
robbed the abbey for its buildings materials, leaving few upstanding
remains. The site is now marked by earthworks, slight walling of
the church, large quantities of displaced stonework, and the
re-erected
cloister arcades.(4) The remains
are generally accessible to the public.