Witham Charterhouse
| Witham Charterhouse | |
|---|---|
Parish church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St John Baptist and All Saints, Witham Friary, formerly lay brothers' church of friary
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| Basic information | |
| Location | Witham Friary, Somerset, England |
| Geographic coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Affiliation | Carthusian |
| Year consecrated | 1178/1179 |
| Status | abandoned |
Witham Charterhouse was the earliest of the ten medieval Carthusian houses (charterhouses) in England.
Contents
History
It was established at Witham Friary, Somerset, in 1178/1179 from a founding party led by a monk called Narbert from the Grande Chartreuse. The charterhouse was founded by Henry II in his Royal Forest of Selwood, as part of his penance for the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket of Canterbury.[1]
The house was suppressed as part of the dissolution of the monasteries on 15 March 1539, and it surrendered without trouble.[1]
The lay brother's church is now used as the Parish church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St John Baptist and All Saints, Witham Friary.
Archeology
In 1921 excavations revealed buttressed wall foundations and building rubble including glazed roof tiles and floor tiles. Later work in 1965 and 1968 revealed further buildings and two were interpreted as the chapter house and possibly a church.[2]
Remains
The site of the charterhouse is marked by extensive rectilenear earthworks, cut by a railway line, and some worked stone can still be seen in buildings in the village of Witham Friary. The remains of the original monastic fishponds still survive to the east of the site.[2]
References
- Pages with broken file links
- Carthusian Order
- Anti-Catholicism in England
- Archaeological sites in Somerset
- British Christian monks
- British hermits
- Buildings and structures in Mendip
- Buildings and structures in Somerset
- Carthusian monasteries in England
- Catholicism in the United Kingdom
- Christian monasteries established in the 12th century
- Christianity in Somerset
- Church of England churches in Mendip
- Dissolution of the Monasteries
- English Christian monks
- English hermits
- English Reformation
- Former Roman Catholic churches in England
- History of religion in England
- History of Roman Catholicism in England
- History of Roman Catholicism in Great Britain
- Mendip
- Monasteries in Somerset
- Religiously motivated violence in England
- Ruined abbeys and monasteries
- Ruins in Somerset
- Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Mendip
- 1170s establishments in England
- 1178 establishments in England
- 1539 disestablishments in England
