| Rufford Abbey | ||
| House & estate | ||
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Rufford Abbey
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| Country | England | |
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| State | Nottinghamshire | |
| Region | East Midlands | |
| District | Newark and Sherwood | |
| Municipality | Rufford | |
| Location | 2 miles South of Ollerton off A614 | |
| Founded | 1147 as a Cistercian Monastery | |
| Owner | English Heritage | |
| Website: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.11940 | ||
Rufford Abbey is an estate in Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire, England. It was originally a Cistercian abbey. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century it became a country house. Part of the house was demolished in the 20th century, but the remains, together with the grounds, are open to the public.
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The abbey itself was founded by Gilbert de Gant, on 12 July 1147,[1] and populated with Cistercian monks from Rievaulx Abbey in Yorkshire.
The English Pope, Adrian IV gave the blessing for the abbey in 1156, following which the abbey's lands expanded and the villagers of Cratley, Grimston and Rufford, Inkersall were evicted. A new village of Wellow, just outside the estate housed some of the displaced people.[2]
The Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1534 gives the gross income of the abbey as £254 6s. 8d. (£100,000 as of 2012),[3]and the clear annual value as £176 11s. 6d. (£70,000 as of 2012).[3]
Abbot Doncaster obtained a pension of £25 a year, on the dissolution of the house in 1536 among the lesser monasteries, but it was voided on his speedy appointment to the rectory of Rotherham on 2 July 1536.
The estate was later granted to the Talbot family, and its residents included George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury. In 1626, the house was sold to Sir George Savile, and later inhabited by his descendant, the Marquess of Halifax.
The Savile family sold the estate during the Great Depression, and it was later acquired by English Heritage. The late 17th century North Wing was demolished in the 1950s.
The Manor of Rufford was listed in the Domesday Book.[5]
The Rufford Estate covered approximately twenty-nine square miles and in addition to the ancient Liberty of Rufford, it included the parishes of Bilsthorpe, Eakring and most of Ollerton, Ompton, Boughton, Wellow, and extended into Blidworth, Edwinstowe, Egmanton, Farnsfield, Kirton, Tuxford, and Walesby.[6]
The titles of Lord of the Manor of Rufford and of the Liberty of Rufford were sold at auction by the Manorial Society of Great Britain in July 2010.[7]
Between 1729 and c.1845 many improvements were made to the Rufford estate. For example; the addition of the bath house, the creation of the lake and mill buildings, the construction of the brewhouse, water tower and coach house and also the addition of five ice houses.
Although Rufford Abbey once boasted five ice houses, only two remain today. All were constructed around 1820, when the estate was owned by John Lumley-Savile, 8th Earl of Scarbrough (1788–1856). The five ice houses are located near Rufford lake, created c1750; for the simple reason that the movement of ice from its source was easier.
Not all of Rufford’s ice houses faced north, as accessibility and the logistics of the ice may have meant that the builders found it easier to place the doorways facing the lake rather than northerly. It is believed that ice was mainly taken from Blackwalk Pond, which was drained to make way for housing in the 20th century. Blackwalk Pond was used to serve the abbey in Rufford's monastic era, and later supplied water to Rufford's water tower and brewhouse, which remain on site today.
In 1851, a gang of forty or so poachers assembled in Rufford Park as a mass action against what was perceived to be the unfair monopolising of game-hunting rights by wealthy landowners. The poachers were attacked by ten gamekeepers and, in the ensuing battle, one of the gamekeepers was badly injured and later died of a fractured skull. Four of the poachers' ringleaders were arrested and each subsequently sentenced to deportation and fourteen years of penal servitude for manslaughter. The incident gave rise to the popular ballad, Rufford Park Poachers (Roud #1759), which depicts the poachers as bold heroes.[8][9]
By the early 1900s, the Rufford Abbey Estate comprised some 18,500 acres (75 km2), but had begun to feel the effects of rising running costs and reduced incomes. It was eventually sold in 1938.
The abbey was the setting for the children's book and later TV series called Polly Flint in the mid-80s. The small neighbouring village of Wellow was also used.
"Rufford Abbey" is a popular piece composed and arranged for Brass Band by D. Rimmer (note: not William Rimmer, known for his marches). It is often used as an intermediate grade competition piece, and is a popular choice for recitals. Percy Grainger also transcribed "Rufford Park Poachers" in the third movement of his suite, "Lincolnshire Posy."