Hailes Abbey, in Gloucestershire, England - A National Trust estate, managed by English Heritage
To view more images, of Hailes Abbey & Church click "here"
From the achieves, reprocessed using Photoshop CC 2025
I would be most grateful if you would refrain from inserting images, and/or group invites!
Hailes Abbey was founded in 1245 or 1246 by Richard, Earl of Cornwall, called "King of the Romans" and the younger brother of King Henry III of England. Richard founded the abbey to thank God after he had survived a shipwreck. Richard had been granted the manor of Hailes by King Henry, and settled it with Cistercian monks from Beaulieu Abbey in Hampshire. The great Cistercian abbey was entirely built in a single campaign in 1277, and was consecrated in a royal ceremony that included the King and Queen and 15 bishops.
Hailes Abbey became a site of pilgrimage after Richard's son Edmund donated to the Cistercian community a phial of the Holy Blood, purchased in Germany, in 1270. Such a relic of the Crucifixion was a considerable magnet for pilgrimage. From the proceeds, the monks of Hailes were able to rebuild the Abbey on a magnificent scale. One Abbot of Hailes was executed as a rebel after the Battle of Bramham Moor, in 1408. Though King Henry VIII's commissioners declared the famous relic to be nothing but the blood of a duck, regularly renewed, and though the Abbot Stephen Sagar admitted that the Holy Blood was a fake in hope of saving the Abbey, Hailes Abbey was one of the last religious institutions to acquiesce following the Dissolution Act of 1536. The Abbot and his monks finally surrendered their abbey to Henry's commissioners on Christmas Eve 1539. After the Dissolution, the west range consisting of the Abbot's own apartments was converted into a house and was home to the Tracy family in the seventeenth century, but these buildings were later demolished and now all that remains are a few low arches in a meadow with outlines in the grass. Surviving remains include the small church for the disappeared parish, with unrestored medieval wall-paintings. The abbey is owned by the National Trust and managed by English Heritage.
Hailes Church. Across the road from Hailes Abbey in Gloucestershire is Hailes Church, a small country chapel that predates its more famous neighbor by a half-century. The 12th-century church is small and charming and contains some magnificent 13th-century wall paintings of saints, coats of arms, and hunting scenes. The early history of Hailes Church is obscure, but it is at least known to date from the 12th century. Two different sources from this period mention a church in Hailes, though it is not known whether they all refer to the same church. In 1114, William de Tancarville is recorded as giving Hailes Church to the monastery of St. Georges-de-Boscherville near Rouen in France. The Tancarvilles were Chamberlains of Normandy and had their castle on the Seine upriver from Le Havre. They also seem to have been Chamberlains of England and to have owned the manor of Hailes. Hailes Church is also mentioned in the records of nearby Winchcombe Abbey. One record provides details about a church built at Hailes between 1139 and 1151. They say that Ralph de Worcester had taken over almost the whole district and fortified a castle and built a church at Hailes, summoning the Bishop of Worcester to dedicate it. The monks of Winchcombe Abbey were alarmed at this because it might threaten their parochial rights (which had to do with charging burial dues) at Hailes and tried to prevent him. The priests of Hailes Abbey paid burial fees to Winchcombe Abbey until 1191, when the priest Simon refused to pay and entered into a dispute with the abbey. In the end, Hailes Church was formally recognized as a "full Mother and Baptismal Church." Hailes still had to pay a fee of seven shillings a year to Winchcombe until 1309, when the payment was exchanged for some lands and tithes. In 1246, Hailes Abbey was founded by the brother of King Henry III. The monastery was given to monks of the Cistercian order, whose austere rules required them to live "far from the concourse of men." The existing settlement at Hailes was therefore moved to Didbrook a few fields away. All that remained in Hailes was the parish church, which came under Hailes Abbey's jurisdiction in 1248. Hailes Church was thereafter used as the place of worship for visitors, pilgrims and abbey workmen, since the public was not allowed to use the grand church of Hailes Abbey. A monk from the abbey probably led the services at Hailes Church.
Hailes Abbey, in Gloucestershire, England - A National Trust estate, managed by English Heritage
To view more images, of Hailes Abbey & Church click "here"
From the achieves, reprocessed using Photoshop CC 2025
I would be most grateful if you would refrain from inserting images, and/or group invites!
Hailes Abbey was founded in 1245 or 1246 by Richard, Earl of Cornwall, called "King of the Romans" and the younger brother of King Henry III of England. Richard founded the abbey to thank God after he had survived a shipwreck. Richard had been granted the manor of Hailes by King Henry, and settled it with Cistercian monks from Beaulieu Abbey in Hampshire. The great Cistercian abbey was entirely built in a single campaign in 1277, and was consecrated in a royal ceremony that included the King and Queen and 15 bishops.
Hailes Abbey became a site of pilgrimage after Richard's son Edmund donated to the Cistercian community a phial of the Holy Blood, purchased in Germany, in 1270. Such a relic of the Crucifixion was a considerable magnet for pilgrimage. From the proceeds, the monks of Hailes were able to rebuild the Abbey on a magnificent scale. One Abbot of Hailes was executed as a rebel after the Battle of Bramham Moor, in 1408. Though King Henry VIII's commissioners declared the famous relic to be nothing but the blood of a duck, regularly renewed, and though the Abbot Stephen Sagar admitted that the Holy Blood was a fake in hope of saving the Abbey, Hailes Abbey was one of the last religious institutions to acquiesce following the Dissolution Act of 1536. The Abbot and his monks finally surrendered their abbey to Henry's commissioners on Christmas Eve 1539. After the Dissolution, the west range consisting of the Abbot's own apartments was converted into a house and was home to the Tracy family in the seventeenth century, but these buildings were later demolished and now all that remains are a few low arches in a meadow with outlines in the grass. Surviving remains include the small church for the disappeared parish, with unrestored medieval wall-paintings. The abbey is owned by the National Trust and managed by English Heritage.
Hailes Church. Across the road from Hailes Abbey in Gloucestershire is Hailes Church, a small country chapel that predates its more famous neighbor by a half-century. The 12th-century church is small and charming and contains some magnificent 13th-century wall paintings of saints, coats of arms, and hunting scenes. The early history of Hailes Church is obscure, but it is at least known to date from the 12th century. Two different sources from this period mention a church in Hailes, though it is not known whether they all refer to the same church. In 1114, William de Tancarville is recorded as giving Hailes Church to the monastery of St. Georges-de-Boscherville near Rouen in France. The Tancarvilles were Chamberlains of Normandy and had their castle on the Seine upriver from Le Havre. They also seem to have been Chamberlains of England and to have owned the manor of Hailes. Hailes Church is also mentioned in the records of nearby Winchcombe Abbey. One record provides details about a church built at Hailes between 1139 and 1151. They say that Ralph de Worcester had taken over almost the whole district and fortified a castle and built a church at Hailes, summoning the Bishop of Worcester to dedicate it. The monks of Winchcombe Abbey were alarmed at this because it might threaten their parochial rights (which had to do with charging burial dues) at Hailes and tried to prevent him. The priests of Hailes Abbey paid burial fees to Winchcombe Abbey until 1191, when the priest Simon refused to pay and entered into a dispute with the abbey. In the end, Hailes Church was formally recognized as a "full Mother and Baptismal Church." Hailes still had to pay a fee of seven shillings a year to Winchcombe until 1309, when the payment was exchanged for some lands and tithes. In 1246, Hailes Abbey was founded by the brother of King Henry III. The monastery was given to monks of the Cistercian order, whose austere rules required them to live "far from the concourse of men." The existing settlement at Hailes was therefore moved to Didbrook a few fields away. All that remained in Hailes was the parish church, which came under Hailes Abbey's jurisdiction in 1248. Hailes Church was thereafter used as the place of worship for visitors, pilgrims and abbey workmen, since the public was not allowed to use the grand church of Hailes Abbey. A monk from the abbey probably led the services at Hailes Church.