Buildwas Abbey

Buildwas Abbey
	Buildwas Abbey, Shropshire.
	Location within Shropshire
Monastery information
Full name	Monastery of St Mary and St Chad of Buildwas
Other names	Communis Monasterii Sancte Marie de Buldewas
Order	Cistercian, originally Savigniac
Established	1135
Disestablished	1536
Mother house	Savigny Abbey
Dedicated to	St Mary and St Chad
Diocese	Coventry and Lichfield
Controlled churches	St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin, daughter house; Basingwerk Abbey, daughter house; St Mary's, Leighton, appropriated;
People
Founder(s)	Roger de Clinton, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield
Important associated figures	William FitzAlan, Lord of Oswestry; Abbot Ranulf; Stephen of Lexington; Robert Burnell; Edmund Crouchback; Robert de Ferrers, 6th Earl of Derby; Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel; Hugh Burnell, 2nd Lord Burnell; George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury; Edward Grey, 3rd Baron Grey of Powis;
Site
Location	Buildwas, near Ironbridge, Telford, Shropshire, TF8 7BW
Coordinates	52°38′07″N 2°31′42″W / 52.6354°N 2.5284°W
Grid reference	grid reference SJ642044
Visible remains	Substantial remains of church and claustral buildings.
Scheduled monument
Official name	Buildwas Abbey
Designated	8 February 1915
Reference no.	1015813
Public access	Free entry, 10:00–17:00 every day.

Buildwas Abbey was a Cistercian (originally Savigniac) monastery located on the banks of the River Severn, at Buildwas in Shropshire, England - today about 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Ironbridge. Founded by the local bishop in 1135, it was sparsely endowed at the outset but enjoyed several periods of growth and increasing wealth: notably under Abbot Ranulf in the second half of the 12th century and again from the mid-13th century, when large numbers of acquisitions were made from the local landed gentry. Abbots were regularly used as agents by the Plantagenet monarchs in their attempts to subdue Ireland and Wales and the abbey acquired a daughter house in each country.

It was a centre of learning, with a substantial library, and was noted for its discipline until the economic and demographic crises of the 14th century brought about decline and difficulties, exacerbated by conflict and political instability in the Welsh Marches. The abbey was suppressed in 1536 as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII. Substantial remains of the abbey church and monks' quarters remain and are in the care of English Heritage.^[1]

^ Angold, M. J.; Baugh, G. C.; Chibnall, Marjorie M.; Cox, D. C.; Price, D. T. W.; Tomlinson, Margaret; Trinder, B. S. (1973). Gaydon, A. T.; Pugh, R. B. (eds.). House of Cistercian monks: Abbey of Buildwas. Vol. 2. London: Victoria County History. Retrieved 27 April 2019. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)

[1] Angold, M. J.; Baugh, G. C.; Chibnall, Marjorie M.; Cox, D. C.; Price, D. T. W.; Tomlinson, Margaret; Trinder, B. S. (1973). Gaydon, A. T.; Pugh, R. B. (eds.). House of Cistercian monks: Abbey of Buildwas. Vol. 2. London: Victoria County History. Retrieved 27 April 2019. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)

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