Herefordshire Through Time
Herefordshire Through Time
Dore Abbey, in Herefordshire, was the only British abbey founded from Morimond, one of the five French mother-houses of the Cistercian Order. Morimond had daughter-houses in France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Poland, while most British Cistercian abbeys were connected to Citeaux or Clairvaux, whose most famous Abbot was Saint Bernard (1090/91-1153). It is suggested that Robert, Lord of Ewyas met the Abbot of Morimond through the Second Crusade and offered him the land. Certainly Robert as patron would have erected timber buildings to house the new abbot and 12 monks, copying Christ and His Disciples. Their first task was to build a stone Church on the same plan as at Morimond. The fertile site was near the river - perhaps a local person told them it was the "dwr", Welsh for water, which these Frenchmen heard as "d'or", gold, and so "Dore" in the "Golden" Valley.
Cistercian choir-monks, who wore white habits, both prayed, following the daily Offices according to The Rule of Saint Benedict, and worked, with manual labour in the mornings and afternoons. They were stricter than the black habited Benedictines, whose abbeys, such as at Leominster, tended to be in towns. Living in more remote areas, Cistercians often had to drain land, becoming efficient water engineers and gardeners. Leeks were among the food crops, while saffron could be a cash-crop. Morimond was noted for cattle. Dore became famous for sheep, whose clip of exceptionally high quality wool was sold as far away as Italy, fetching the highest price in Europe in the 13th-14th centuries. All this was administered through the daily meeting in the chapter house, so-called because it started with a reading, or chapter, from The Rule. Discussions covered all church affairs, the monks and the monastic estates.
By this time the abbey also had lay-brothers, conversi, who worked partly on sheepfarms called granges, still traceable through farm names. Lay-brothers wore brown and had their own part of the church nave, and their own living quarters, now under the farm at Dore. They had vocations but as they were often illiterate peasants their prayers were just the essential Pater, Ave, and Gloria.
The monks' and lay-brothers' hard work meant the abbey prospered and could afford to extend the Church, giving extra chapels and an ambulatory for processions around the High Altar. A Lady Chapel was unnecessary as Cistercian abbeys were dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Like all monasteries and churches, Dore had many altars with coloured statues of the saints. Originally the walls were painted to replicate stones but, later, capitals on the columns were carved, painted and gilded to resemble foliage. Other decoration was provided by stained glass and tiles. The magnificent roof bosses included Christ in Majesty, the Coronation of the Virgin and the Virgin and Child with an abbot, who may be Richard Stradell (1305-1346), Dore's most famous abbot. There was also Saint Katherine and a "Greenman". Among the recorded relics was a piece "of the Holy Cross, very beautifully adorned with gold and precious stones" donated by Lord William de Grandison in 1321. Dore's two skilfully carved effigies show how important it was for local barons who were not only buried here but also used the sacristy as a safe-deposit for valuables.
It must have been traumatic when the abbey was dissolved by Henry VIII's commissioners in 1537. Everything was sold, including the roof lead. Much was bought by John Scudamore, whose descendant was Viscount Scudamore. When his baby sons died he became convinced that he needed to make amends for his income deriving from former monastic land and so, at enormous cost, he restored Dore as an Anglican Church following the precepts of William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury (1633-1645). The nave was blocked, a tower built, a screen, and later a musicians' gallery, were added. The walls were lime-washed and texts painted showing the uses of different areas. One of the original abbey chapels survived as the Hoskyns Chapel. The original High Altar stone, identified by the consecration crosses, was found being used to salt meat, and reinstated at the eastern end.
The abbey had been consecrated by Saint Thomas Cantilupe, Bishop of Hereford (1275-1282), guarded by soldiers because the Bishop of Saint David's contested his right to do so. When the Church was re-consecrated on Palm Sunday, 22nd March 1634, Viscount Scudamore's birthday, the Bishop of Saint David's deputised for the Bishop of Hereford.
If you would like to know more then do visit - there is a guidebook (£2) - or use the website at http://www.doreabbey.org.uk/.
A Definitive History of Dore Abbey, edited by Ron Shoesmith and Ruth Richardson, is available from The Friends of Dore Abbey (£14.95 + £3 p&p).
© Ruth E. Richardson, 2002