Medieval abbey and monastery, Walden Abbey, Audley End House (EHER 401)

The Benedictine Priory of St Mary and St James was founded by Geoffrey de Mandeville, earl of Essex, between 1136-44. It became an Abbey in 1190 and was finally dissolved in 1538. Coller states that extensive foundations were buried beneath the eastern lawn and flower beds of Audley End House. Cropmarks perhaps showing parts of the eastern range are visible in aerial photographs taken in 1951. Morant states that foundations and burials were found near the bowling green. Excavations in 1979 have shown that the north, east and south sides of the inner court of Audley End House certainly incorporated, and the west side probably incorporates, the lower parts of the walls surrounding the monastic cloister, therefore confirming that the abbey cloister and inner court of the later Jacobean house were co-extensive.

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import: Abbey (NR) site of. <1> The Benedictine Priory of St Mary and St James was founded by Geoffrey de Mandeville, earl of Essex. The foundation date is uncertain. Two chronicles of the early history of the house and family put it at 1136, but they speak of Geoffrey as Earl. He was probably created earl in 1140 and he died in 1144, so the foundation date may lie between those dates. <2> Listed by Knowles and Hadcock as 1136-44. <3> It became an Abbey in 1190 and was finally dissolved in 1538. Coller states that extensive foundations were buried beneath the eastern lawn and flower beds of Audley End House <4>. Morant states that foundations and burials were found near the bowling green <5>. The Audley End pamphlet states that building remains beneath the house suggest the inner court behind the hall marks the site of the cloister. <6> 1500 yards west-south-west of the parish church. The house is near the site of the Benedictine Abbey of Walden, of which there are no remains. <7> Priory founded 1139-1143, it became an Abbey in 1190. In the 12th century the monastic settlement was replanned twice, the 3 sites being practically adjacent to one another (see field 23). In these alterations the cloister was moved from the north side of the abbey to the south. The main buildings of the monastery do not seem to have been completed until the mid 13th century. At some time between 1335-1361 a new cloister was built by Humphrey de Bohun, 6th Earl of Essex. Joan, Countess of Hertford (d1419) gave the abbey a new belfry, sculptures for the nave and the roof covering of lead probably as repairs after a storm in 1365. In 1538 the abbey and its possessions were surrendered to the king, who granted them to Sir Thomas Audley who converted the buildings for his house about 1538-1544. Parts of the cloister walls have been revealed by excavations in the 1950s and in 1979. Also it was found that parts of the present house rise directly from walls of the church and cloister. This, taken with other evidence, including a late 16th century estate map, indicates a "remarkable structural continuity" between the Abbey and both the later houses. A tile floor from the church was found though it may be a relaying as part of the 1st post medieval house. Other features located included parts of the south west corner of the cloister, including, probably, the bases of engaged columns for a vault over the undercroft (possibly a century earlier than the rest of the, 14th century cloister). Early finds made close by include: many burials, iron nails (evidence for wooden coffins), 2 lead coffins (all these probably from the monks' cemetery), 2 13th-14th century circular bronze brooches with bronze swivel pins, found with human remains, probably from a lay cemetery. There is stonework at the house from the early and recent excavations, including a finial in Barnack stone, found in 1832. A broken piece of flat gravestone was referred to in 1836 but has disappeared. The stonework includes items from all stages of the house's development. Other building materials found include: brick, roof tiles, floor tiles of varying types. Some tiles are by the `Westminster tiler', others are of Flemish manufacture. Site Assessment = The 2 short lived monastic sites are shown on a map in this source and are "of the utmost archaeological importance". An important point is "the remarkable structural continuity between Walden Abbey and Audley End I, and indeed between the abbey and the inner court of Audley End II". <8> <9> 1951. Aerial photography. A possible part of the Medieval Abbey and early Audley End House is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs taken in 1951, before the parterre garden was restored. The site comprises a ditch which forms an L-shape centred around TL 5251 3817. It may mark the location of robbed out partitions in the eastern range as marked on Winstanley's general ground plan of 1688. <10> 1968. Evaluation Foundations, broken columns, mutilated mullions found under the eastern lawn and flower gardens. Other foundations and bones, dug up by the bowling green, near the great pond. Building remains beneath the floor of Audley End House suggest that the inner court behind the hall marks the site of the cloister. <11> 1979. Excavation. Excavations in 1979 have shown that the north, east and south sides of the inner court of Audley End certainly incorporated, and the west side probably incorporates, the lower parts of the walls surrounding the monastic cloister, therefore confirming that the abbey cloister and inner court of the Jacobean house were co-extensive. <12> - <14> 1987. Evaluation. The 19th century garden was excavated 1985-87 in advance of reconstruction. Pre-19th century features revealed in flowerbeds and later features were recorded but not excavated. The 1950 trenches at the eastern corners of the cloister were reopened and recorded in detail for the first time. It seemed that the 14th century rebuilding of the cloisters did not affect any structural aspects of the claustral buildings, being restricted to the pentice itself and some rearrangement of doorways and internal features. South of the south transept lies the presumed chapter house with a narrow slype beyond and other buildings stretching to the south-east corner. <15> June 1989. Field visit. As described in <1> - <9>. <16> 2005. Evaluation. Excavation of test pits and monitoring of about 850m of cable trench uncovered archaeological remains dating mainly to the 17th century or later. However, fragmentary structural remains that date to the earlier phases of the house and, possibly, Walden Abbey were also discovered. Most finds were datable to the later 16th, 17th and 18th centuries and, although some medieval pottery recovered, the few sherds were residual in later demolition layers. <17> See also: <18> - <25>