Name: BORDESLEY Location: Redditch
County: Worcestershire Foundation: 1138 Mother house: Garendon Relocation: None Founder: Waleran de Beaumont Dissolution: 1538 Prominent members: Access: Open to the public
Bordesley was founded by Waleran de Beaumont,
count of Meulan (in Normandy) and earl of Worcester, in 1138.
This
foundation was made in conjunction with the foundation of an Augustinian
abbey in Leicester by his twin brother, Robert earl of Leicester.
These twin foundations can be seen as a political statement
made by two of the most powerful magnates in England. Waleran
had
been made earl of Worcester by King Stephen in 1138 and this project
marked his arrival. On being made earl Waleran had received a
block
grant of all the royal assets in the county and Bordesley Abbey
was situated in Feckenham forest, on land of this nature.(1) It
was
the first daughter house of the abbey of Garendon,
which had been founded by Walerans twin brother, Robert
earl of Leicester.(2) However,
first the Empress Matilda and then her son, Henry II, claimed
Bordesley as their own foundation.(3) Waleran
had been a favoured adherent of Stephens party, but after
the battle of Lincoln (1141) Waleran defected to the Empresss
party in order to save his lands in Normandy, which were now under
the control of
the Empresss
husband, Geoffrey of Anjou.
The Empress issued two charters as a consequence
of Walerans submission to her and they were both directed
to the abbey of Bordesley. The charters declare that the Empress
was in fact the abbeys founder; it is thought that the unspoken
assumption behind these charters is that Walerans earldom
was to be suppressed and his grants therefore annulled or transferred
(as in the case of Bordesley) to royal patronage.(4) As
a royal foundation, it received many privileges from the crown
but never attained
a
position of especial wealth or importance. In 1535, the temporalities
reached an annual value of £348 but the monastery was deemed
to be £200 in debt.(5) The
abbey was dissolved in 1538 and demolition began almost immediately.
In 1542, the site was
granted to Lord
Windsor, whose family, the earls of Plymouth, owned it through
to the twentieth century. The chapel survived in use as a church
until
1805 and the whole site is now a public park in Needle Lane, Waterside,
in the Borough of Redditch. There are substantial earthworks
and
the eastern parts of the church have been conserved for display.(6) There
is a visitor centre and the remains are freely accessible
to the public.(7)