Editing Crowland (section)

==History==
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The town's two historical points of interest are the ruined medieval [[Crowland Abbey]] and the 14th-century three-sided bridge, [[Trinity Bridge, Crowland|Trinity Bridge]], which stands at its central point and once spanned the divergence of the [[River Welland]] and a distributary.<ref name="ps">{{PastScape|mnumber=352293|mname=Trinity Bridge|accessdate=17 January 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Boyes |first1=John |last2=Russell |first2=Ronald |title=The Canals of Eastern England |publisher=David and Charles |year=1977 |isbn=978-0-7153-7415-3 |page=236}}</ref> 

In about 701, a monk named [[Guthlac]] came to what was then an island in the Fens to live the life of a hermit. Following in Guthlac's footsteps, a [[Crowland Abbey|monastic community came into being]] here, which was dedicated to [[Blessed Virgin Mary|Saint Mary the Virgin]], [[Saint Bartholomew]] and Saint Guthlac in the 8th century.<ref name="Chisholm 1911 p. 514">{{EB1911|inline=1 |wstitle=Crowland |volume=7|pages=514–515}}</ref>

The place-name 'Crowland' is first attested circa 745 AD in the ''Vita S. Guthlaci auctore Felice'', reprinted in the ''Memorials of Saint Guthlac'' published in [[Wisbech]] in 1881. Here the name appears as ''Cruglond'', ''Crugland'', ''Cruuulond'' and ''Cruwland''. It appears as ''Croiland'' in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086. The word ''"cruw"'' is thought to mean a bend, and to refer to the bend in the [[River Welland]] at Crowland, which was more pronounced before the [[The Fens#Draining the Fens|draining of the fens]].<ref>[[Eilert Ekwall]], ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names'', p.133.</ref>

The town of Crowland grew up round the abbey. By a charter dated 716, [[Æthelbald of Mercia]] granted the isle of Crowland, free from all secular services, to the abbey with a gift of money, and leave to build and enclose the town. The charter's privileges were confirmed by numerous other royal charters extending over a period of nearly 800 years. Under Abbot Ægelric the fens were tilled, the monastery grew rich, and the town increased in size, enormous tracts of land being held by the abbey at the [[Domesday Survey]].<ref name="Chisholm 1911 p. 514"/>

The ''[[Croyland Chronicle]]'' (1144–1486), an important source for medieval historians, is believed to be the work of some of the monastery's inhabitants.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/ingulphschronic03petegoog |date=1908 |title=Ingulph's Chronicle of the Abbey of Croyland |translator=Henry T. Riley |publisher=George Bell and Sons |location=London}}</ref>

The town was nearly destroyed by fire (1469–1476), but the abbey tenants were given money to rebuild it. By virtue of his office the abbot had a seat in parliament, but the town was never a parliamentary borough. Abbot Ralph Mershe in 1257 obtained a grant of a market every Wednesday, confirmed by [[Henry IV of England|Henry IV]] in 1421, but it was afterwards moved to [[Thorney, Cambridgeshire|Thorney]]. The annual fair of St Bartholomew, which originally lasted twelve days, was first mentioned in [[Henry III of England|Henry III]]'s confirmatory charter of 1227. The dissolution of the monastery in 1539 was fatal to the progress of the town, and it rapidly sank into the position of an unimportant village. The abbey lands were granted by [[Edward VI]] to [[Edward Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln]], from whose family they passed in 1671 to the Orby family.<ref name="Chisholm 1911 p. 514"/>

{{anchor|siege of Crowland}}In 1642, near the start of the [[English Civil War]], the remains of the abbey were fortified and garrisoned by [[Cavalier|Royalists]] under Governor [[Thomas Stiles]]. After a short siege it was taken by [[Roundhead|Parliamentarian]] forces under the command of [[Oliver Cromwell]] in May 1643.<ref>{{cite CE1913 |last=Blair |first=David Oswald Hunter |wstitle=Abbey of Croyland |volume=4}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://boar.org.uk/ariwxo3FNQ761.htm|title=''Fenland Notes and Queries''; April 1899, article on a piece of Parliamentarian propaganda.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100831044611/http://boar.org.uk/ariwxo3FNQ761.htm|archive-date=31 August 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Bonhams: Civil War – Belvoir Castle |website=Bonhams |date=13 October 2017 |url=https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/17807/lot/42/ |access-date=13 October 2017}}</ref>

The surrounding agricultural area suffered from extensive flooding in 1947 as the [[River Welland]] and the surrounding drain network was overwhelmed with [[meltwater]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brookes |first=Andrew |date=2022-03-25 |title=75th anniversary of devastating Crowland flood |url=https://www.spaldingtoday.co.uk/news/memories-of-flood-75-years-later-9246398/ |access-date=2023-03-15 |website=Spalding Today |language=en}}</ref> A flood defence bank, West Bank, still exists, forming the north-west perimeter of the village and eastern flank of the River Welland's flood plain.

The [[Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway]] crossed the north-east part of the parish until the 1980s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.railmagazine.com/news/rail-features/a-lost-line-and-a-lost-opportunity|title=A lost line... and a lost opportunity|website=railmagazine.com|language=en|access-date=2019-09-20}}</ref> It passed near De Key's Farm to the east and Martin's Farm to the north. [[Postland railway station]] was near Postland House.{{citation needed|date=July 2013}}