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Aerial view of Sawtry abbey site (Univ Cambs)Sawtry Cistercian Abbey
History of Sawtry Abbey
Sawtry Abbey is the only Cistercian monastery in Cambridgeshire, and is well documented from its foundation in the 12th century to the period of the Dissolution. Although the walls of the main buildings have been robbed, floor surfaces and other buried features will survive which, given the period of about 90 years between the abbey’s foundation and the consecration of the church, will include extensive remains of earlier timber structures.
The Abbey was founded by Simon de StLiz, Earl of Huntingdon, in 1147 for a group of monks from the house at Warden in Bedfordshire. It never became a major house though it was used by the King when travelling north in the 12th and 13th centuries. the house seems to have remained poorly funded during its life.
Sawtry Abbey plan (Religious Houses of Cambs, 1988)
The site was excavated during the 19th century. There was also a church dedicated to St Mary. This is shown as a ruin on a 17th century map and is on the site of the present Abbey Farm.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sawtry_Abbey
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