Editing Croxden Abbey (section)

==History==
===Foundation and early history===
[[image:x-chapterhouse.jpg|left|thumb|250px|The ruins of the abbey chapterhouse]]
In 1176, Bertram III de Verdun, the [[lord of the manor]] of Croxden, endowed a site for a new abbey near [[Alton, Staffordshire|Alton]], Staffordshire, to a group of 12 Cistercian monks from [[Aunay-sur-Odon]], [[Normandy]]. Bertram founded the abbey, like many [[nobility|noblemen]] of his time, for the souls of his family and on the condition that the monks would celebrate [[mass (liturgy)|mass]] ''for the souls of Norman de Verdun, my father, and of Lescelina, my mother, and of Richard de Humez, who brought me up, and of my predecessors; and for the well-being of myself and Rohais my wife, and my successors'';<ref>Charles Lynam F.S.A.: ''The Abbey of St. Mary, Croxden, Staffordshire - A Monograph''. Published 1911 - Sprague & Co., Limited, 4 & 5 East Harding Street, London E.C.</ref><ref name="Houses of Cistercian monks"/>

The monks remained at the Alton site until 1179, before moving to land near Croxden, a few miles south. Grants of land were made by Bertram de Verdun to the abbey across Staffordshire, [[Cheshire]], [[Derbyshire]] and [[Leicestershire]], along with the churches of Alton and [[Tugby and Keythorpe|Tugby]], and two chapels at [[Keythorpe]] and [[East Norton]].<ref name="Houses of Cistercian monks">{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=37847 |title=Houses of Cistercian monks: The abbey of Croxden |author=M W Greenslade, R B Pugh (Editors), G C Baugh, L W Cowie, J C Dickinson, A P Duggan, A K B Evans, R H Evans, Una C Hannam, P Heath, D A Johnston, Professor Hilda Johnstone, Ann J Kettle, J L Kirby, R Mansfield, Professor A Saltman |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |date=1970 |work=A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 3 |access-date=9 September 2014 }}</ref>

The abbey continued to expand into the 13th century, with [[King John of England|King John]] awarding the monks an annuity of £5 from the [[Exchequer of Ireland]] in 1200, before exchanging it for land in [[Adeney]], [[Shropshire]], in 1206. Croxden was relatively prosperous at this time, drawing the majority of its wealth from sheep farming. By 1315, the monks were supplying more wool to the continent than any other religious house in the county, with transactions being recorded with Florentine merchants well into the 1420s. The abbey's wealth is reflected in the purchase of a house in [[London]] by abbot William of Over for £20.<ref name="Houses of Cistercian monks"/>

===Decline and dissolution===
By the 14th century, Croxden's financial situation had worsened. The strains of royal taxation, the repayment of loans and the imposition of a [[corrodian]] combined with bad harvests and plague were a drain on the abbey's resources.

With the death of [[Theobald de Verdun, 2nd Baron Verdun|Theobald II de Verdun]], the last of the senior direct male line of the family in 1316, leaving four daughters as his heirs, the patronage of the abbey became the inheritance of the eldest heiress Joan de Verdun, who married secondly Thomas de Furnivall, 2nd [[Baron Furnivall]] of Hallamshire,<ref>George E. Cokayne: ''The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and The United Kingdom. Extant, Extinct, or Dormant'', 1st Edition, Volume III, page 406 (1890)</ref> into whose family Alton and Croxden passed. There was a number{{Clarify|reason=vague|date=December 2015}} of serious disputes between the monks and de Furnivall concerning his use of abbey lands and property, culminating in the monks barricading themselves within the abbey for 16 weeks in 1319. It wasn't until July 1319, with the help of other local landowners, that the monks received an [[assize of novel disseisin]] and their property usage was returned to them.<ref name="Houses of Cistercian monks"/>

With an income of less than £200 per year<ref name="Houses of Cistercian monks" /> the abbey should have been suppressed under the [[Suppression of Religious Houses Act 1535]], which dictated all religious houses with a low annual income should be dissolved.<ref name="Griffiths">{{cite journal|title=The Monthly Review or, Literary Journal|volume=21|location=London|year=1759|pages=275}}</ref> The monks paid a fine of £100 for a royal licence to continue, until 1537 when the abbey was surrendered and the land and property sold off. The king granted the monks pensions, with the last abbot receiving an annual sum of  £26 13s. 4d.<ref name="Houses of Cistercian monks"/>

Two 16th-century deeds relating to the abbey's property, just prior to its dissolution, are held at the Cadbury Research Library, University of Birmingham.<ref>{{Cite web|title=UoB Calmview5: Search results|url=https://calmview.bham.ac.uk/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=XMS489|access-date=2021-04-16|website=calmview.bham.ac.uk}}</ref>

===After dissolution===
The mid-13th-century chapel survived as the [[church (building)|church]] for the [[parish]] of Croxden until 1886, when it was replaced by newer building to the north. In 1936 the site passed into the care of the [[Ministry of Public Building and Works]],<ref name="Houses of Cistercian monks"/> and is today managed by [[English Heritage]].<ref name="EH">{{cite web|url=https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/croxden-abbey/|title=Croxden Abbey|date=n.d.|access-date=9 September 2014|publisher=English Heritage}}</ref> The substantial ruins of a number of the buildings are still standing and, thanks to excavations in 1968, the foundations of some demolished buildings are also traceable.<ref name="Houses of Cistercian monks"/>