Bolton Abbey

Coordinates: 53°58′57″N 1°53′14″W / 53.98250°N 1.88722°W / 53.98250; -1.88722
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The graveyard by the Priory

Bolton Hall
Kite aerial photo of Bolton Priory
Bolton Priory
Bolton Priory windows

Bolton Abbey Estate in

Dissolution of the Monasteries ordered by King Henry VIII, is in the Yorkshire Dales, which lies next to the village of Bolton Abbey
.

The estate is open to visitors, and includes many miles of all-weather walking routes. The

one and a half miles/2.5 km from Bolton Priory.

Bolton Priory

1850s Albumen print by Roger Fenton

The monastery was founded at

Blessed Virgin Mary and the Child and the phrase sigillum sancte Marie de Bolton.[3]

The

Dissolution of the Monasteries
.

Building work was still going on at the abbey when the Dissolution of the Monasteries resulted in the termination of the priory in January 1540. The east end remains in ruins. A tower, begun in 1520, was left half-standing, and its base was later given a bell-turret and converted into an entrance porch. Most of the remaining church is in the

August Pugin
. It still functions as a church today, holding services on Sundays and religious holidays.

Bolton Abbey churchyard contains the war grave of a

First World War.[4] The churchyard also has the grave of cricketer Fred Trueman.[5]

Bolton Abbey Estate

The Craven Heifer

Robert Clifford.[7]

In 1748

Dukes of Devonshire, until a trust was set up by the 11th Duke of Devonshire
turning it over to the Chatsworth Settlement Trustees to steward.

Today, the 33,000 acre (134 km2) estate contains six areas designated as

grouse moors, including Barden Moor on the west side of Wharfedale and Barden Fell on the east side of the dale. There is also a pheasant shoot
. Apart from people employed within these businesses, the estate employs about 120 staff to work on the upkeep of the estate. Much of the estate is open to the public. A charge is made for car parking.

The

permissive path. Barden Moor and Barden Fell, which includes the prominent crag of Simon's Seat, are on access land, and permissive paths, including a route called the Valley of Desolation, lead up to the moors.[8] Access to the moors may be closed to the public during the shooting season.[8]

As well as Bolton Abbey, the

Cavendish family also own the Chatsworth (Derbyshire, England) and Lismore Castle
(Waterford, in the Republic of Ireland) estates.

In the early nineteenth century, a cow known as the Craven Heifer was bred on the Bolton Abbey estate. Weighing 312 stones (1.98 tonnes), and measuring 11 ft 4ins in length and over 7 ft in height, she remains to this day Britain's largest ever cow.

The Priory Church

The Priory Church of St. Mary and St. Cuthbert, Bolton Abbey, is an active Church of England church, serving the village and parish of Bolton Abbey, with a full calendar of liturgical events, and a full-time rector who lives in the adjacent Rectory. The current church is the surviving part of the otherwise ruined 12th-century Augustinian religious community originally known as Bolton. It is situated in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, within the Bolton Abbey estate.

Bolton Abbey in culture

The views and setting of the priory's remains have been immortalised in painting and poetry.

Most notably a painting by Edwin Landseer and several watercolours by J. M. W. Turner one of which, Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire (1809), is held at the British Museum.[10] The young

Brontë sisters are believed to have visited the estate while Landseer was in residence.[11]
(Researching for his painting Bolton Abbey in Olden Times, the young authors were escorted on an exclusive guided tour by an unnamed 'E'.) The following year
William Wordsworth's poem The White Doe of Rylstone was inspired by a visit to Bolton Abbey in 1807.[13]

  • In Anthony Trollope's Lady Anna (1874), an excursion is made to Wharfedale, and a dramatic incident takes place on the banks of the river that encircles the Abbey.
  • Characters played by Richard Harris and Rachel Roberts picnic at Bolton Abbey in the 1963 film This Sporting Life.[14][15]
  • In episode 6 of the BBC series The Trip, Bolton Abbey is visited.[16]
  • A blurred photo of the Abbey is used for the cover of Faith by The Cure, an album from 1981, with the picture taken by Andy Vella.
  • The 1985 music video for the Love and Rockets song "If There's A Heaven Above" was filmed at Bolton Abbey.
  • The BBC Television series Gunpowder (2017) used Bolton Abbey as a location.[17]

See also

Gallery

  • Stained glass windows of the Priory Church
    Stained glass windows of the Priory Church
  • Walker's view of Strid Wood
    Walker's view of Strid Wood
  • The iconic stepping stones and Bolton Abbey
    The iconic stepping stones and Bolton Abbey
  • The graveyard adjacent to the Priory
    The graveyard adjacent to the Priory

References

  1. ^ "Bolton Abbey – Priory Ruins".
  2. ^ Brabbs, Derry: "Abbeys & Monasteries", pages 82–83, Weildenfeld & Nicolson, 2003.
  3. ^ "Houses of Austin canons: Priory of Bolton – British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk.
  4. ^ "Second Lieutenant William Sutton Smeeth – War Casualty Details – CWGC".
  5. ^ "Final farewells to hero Trueman". BBC News. 6 July 2006. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
  6. .
  7. .
  8. ^ a b "Valley of Desolation & Simon's Seat". Bolton Abbey Estate. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  9. ^ Historic England. "Bolton Abbey Hall (1131774)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  10. ^ "Gallery – Bolton Abbey Yorkshire by The British Museum Images stock photo and image search". British Museum Images.
  11. ^ Knights, David (11 February 2019). "New research into Brontes and Duke". Keighley News. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  12. ^ Alexander, Christine; Sellars, Jane (23 February 1995). The Art of the Brontës. Cambridge University Press. ASIN 0521438411.
  13. ^ "Rare Wordsworth Manuscript Secured By Wordsworth Trust – Culture24". www.culture24.org.uk.
  14. – via Google Books.
  15. – via Google Books.
  16. ^ ""The Trip" The Angel at Hetton (TV Episode 2010)" – via www.imdb.com.
  17. Creative England. Archived from the original
    on 4 May 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2017.

External links


53°58′57″N 1°53′14″W / 53.98250°N 1.88722°W / 53.98250; -1.88722