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Denny abbey, central crossing of Benedictine church (Religious Houses of Cambs, 1988)

Denny (Denney) Abbey, Ely Road, Waterbeach

History of Denny Abbey

Listed building:

Benedictine abbey church remains c.1150; later C12 and C13 additions by Knights Templars. Converted to Franciscan nunnery in C14 by the Countess of Pembroke (d.1377), and farmhouse after the Dissolution with further C18 and C19 alterations.

Refectory of Franciscan nunnery c.1340

Rebuilt C16 and C17, and west wall C17 and C18. Converted before 1730 to an eight-bayed barn with thatched roof.

Aisled barn. C17. Reused medieval limestone ashlar blocks and gault brick.

Denny Abbey as in the 14th century

‘For Her Good Estate‘ by Frances A Underhill (2020) describes the friendship of Elizabeth de Burgh and Mary de St Pol. Mary exercised control over the nunneries at Denny and at Waterbeach. The Waterbeach community she eventually relocated to Denny.

Sometime before 1159 a church dedicated to St James and St leonard was built at Denny by one Robert,, Chamberlain to Duke Conan 4th of Brittany. It was first lived in by Benedictines from Ely, but in 1170 the priory was transferred to the Knights Templar. In the early 13th century it became a hospital exclusively for the old and inform members of the Order. When the order was suppressed in 1308, ten or eleven brethren were arrested here.

It was not reoccupied until 1339 when Mary de Valence moved the Franciscan Order of Minoresses from Waterbeach to Denny. At the time of the Dissolution there were 35 nuns. In the 16th century most buildings were destroyed but the nave of the church was converted into a barn.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denny_Abbey

Denny Abbey, rom the south (Religious Houses of Cambs, 1988)

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