Whalley Abbey

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Whalley Abbey is a former abbey complex in Whalley, Lancashire, which is now used as a "Retreat and Conference House".^[1]

[edit] History

Though there has been Christian activity in Whalley since at least Anglo-Saxon times, it was not until 1296 that the abbey came into existence. At that date, Cistercian monks arrived from Stanlow Abbey on the Wirral after a series of violent storms and a fire devastated their erstwhile domicile.

The abbey was dissolved in 1537 during Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries. Subsequently, the last Abbot, John Paslew and some of the monks were executed for treason, having participated in the Pilgrimage of Grace.

The abbey was acquired by the Church of England in 1923 and, three years later, came into the possession of the Diocese of Blackburn.

The abbey is a Grade I listed building, with Grade II lodge and gate posts, and is on the Buildings At Risk Register.

[edit] Trivia

The abbey features heavily in W. H. Ainsworth's novel "The Lancashire Witches", which also deals with the circumstances leading up to Abbot Paslew's death.

[edit] External links

• Whalley Abbey's official website
• Images of England - photograph and details from listed building text - main buildings (Grade I)
• Images of England - photograph and details from listed building text - stone north west gateway (Grade I)
• Images of England - details from listed building text - lodge entrance (Grade II)
• Images of England - photograph and details from listed building text - gate piers (Grade II)
• This building is on the English Heritage - Buildings at Risk Register - link to entry (Buildings at Risk Register article)