Eastminster,also known asNew Abbey,St Mary Graces,and other variants,[1]was aCistercianabbey onTower HillatEast SmithfieldinLondon.
History
editThe abbey was founded byEdward IIIin 1350 immediately outside the RomanLondon Wall[2]in what is now theLondon Borough of Tower Hamlets.It stood just to the north of an older royal foundation, theHospital and Collegiate Church of St Katharine by the Tower.
Among the abbey's endowments was thereversionof one of the four manors ofShereinGomshall,Surrey,given by King Edward III in 1350. This manor acquired the name Towerhill, due to its patronage by the abbey.[3]
In 1375,Sir Nicholas de Loveynebequeathed to the Abbot and Convent the reversion of the mills of Crash Mills, to endow the perpetual singing of masses for the donor.[4]Crash Mills were situated on the River Thames, near East Smithfield.[5]
The Abbey's benefactors were mainly courtiers; it attracted relatively few bequests from the merchants of the City of London.[6]
The abbey wasdissolvedin 1538. From 1805 to 1966 the site was the home of theRoyal Mint,[7]after which it was renamed asRoyal Mint Courtand used for offices.
A large-scale excavation of the site of the abbey took place between 1983 and 1988. An analysis of the archaeological and documentary evidence uncovered has been published byMuseum of London Archaeology.[8]
Burials at the Abbey
editReferences
edit- ^Weinreb, Ben;Hibbert, Christopher,eds. (1983).The London Encyclopaedia.London: Macmillan. p. 740.ISBN9780333325568.
- ^Page, William,ed. (1909). "House of Cistercian monks: 4. Eastminster, New Abbey, or the Abbey of St Mary de Graciis".A History of the County of London: Volume 1, London Within the Bars, Westminster and Southwark.Victoria County History.London. pp. 461–464 – viaBritish History Online.
{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^H. E. Malden, ed. (1911)."Parishes: Shere".A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 3.Institute of Historical Research.Retrieved9 June2017.
- ^Leland L. Duncan."Medieval & Tudor Wills at Lambeth".Kent Archaeological Society.Retrieved9 June2017.
- ^'Stepney: Economic History', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 11: Stepney, Bethnal Green (1998), pp. 52-63. URL:http:// british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22735Date accessed: 9 June 2017.
- ^Paul Trio, Marjan de Smet,The Use and Abuse of Sacred Places in Late Medieval Towns(Leuven, 2006), pp. 163–164
- ^Harvey, John(1978).The Perpendicular Style, 1330–1485.London: Batsford.ISBN9780713416107.
- ^Grainger, Ian; Phillpotts, Christopher (2011).The Cistercian Abbey of St Mary Graces, East Smithfield, London.London: Museum of London Archaeology.ISBN9781907586026.
51°30′34″N0°04′20″W/ 51.5094°N 0.0723°W
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