Name: PIPEWELL Location: nr Pipewell
village County: Northamptonshire Foundation: 1143 Mother house: Newminster Relocation: None Founder: William Butevilain Dissolution: 1538 Prominent members: Access: Private property – can be seen from the road
Pipewell was established in 1143 by William
Butevilain. It was situated in the valley of Harper’s Brook,
at the boundary between the parishes of Wilbarston and Rushton.
Apparently William
had approached both
Newminster and Garendon to
provide a colony for the settlement of the abbey, and it was only
after a long argument that the monks
of Garendon finally withdrew, leaving the way open for the foundation
of the first daughter-house of Newminster.(1)
Pipewell abbey never
grew to any considerable size or importance. In 1365 there were
less than twenty monks and only fourteen at the time of suppression.
In the assessment of 1535 the annual net income of the house was
valued at £283 and the abbey was dissolved in the second
round of closures, in 1538.(2) Before
the house was suppressed, the gentlemen
of the district tried to save the abbey by showing that it provided
great relief and succour for the poor, but their efforts were
to no avail. Following
the Dissolution the site was granted to Sir William Parre. William
Parrre intended to demolish the house, but before he could do
so the property
was looted by the locals. Demolition took place soon after
and by 1720 no standing masonry was visible.(3)
Today, most of the precinct
survives as earthworks with the church and cloister buildings at
the centre. To the west of the precinct there is a massive mill
pond and dam, together with a series of medieval quarries which
have been worked into the twentieth century. The site is on private
farm land but can be viewed from the road.
