Darwinsgift
Elstow Abbey
Elstow, Bedfordshire is famous for its pious, dissident preacher and author John Bunyan who came from this village. His most famous work "The Pilgrim's Progress" has never been out of print. This was his local church and he rang the bells in the tower that stands alone and detached. His early influences were made here.
Countess Judith, niece of William the Conqueror, founded a Benedictine nunnery in Elstow in the year 1078. The Elstow nuns came from wealthy families and each came with an endowment of money and/or lands.
In 1538 Elstow Abbey was valued as being the eighth richest nunnery in England. On 26 August 1539, the Abbess was forced to surrender the Abbey, the manor of Elstow and all the Abbey's other lands and estates throughout England, to King Henry VIII, as part of his Dissolution of the Monasteries. Much was demolished and the Abbey would have been at least twice the size. The three windows and east wall were added around 1580.
Elstow Abbey
Elstow, Bedfordshire is famous for its pious, dissident preacher and author John Bunyan who came from this village. His most famous work "The Pilgrim's Progress" has never been out of print. This was his local church and he rang the bells in the tower that stands alone and detached. His early influences were made here.
Countess Judith, niece of William the Conqueror, founded a Benedictine nunnery in Elstow in the year 1078. The Elstow nuns came from wealthy families and each came with an endowment of money and/or lands.
In 1538 Elstow Abbey was valued as being the eighth richest nunnery in England. On 26 August 1539, the Abbess was forced to surrender the Abbey, the manor of Elstow and all the Abbey's other lands and estates throughout England, to King Henry VIII, as part of his Dissolution of the Monasteries. Much was demolished and the Abbey would have been at least twice the size. The three windows and east wall were added around 1580.