Combermere Abbey - St Edmund - Fenny Bentley, Derbyshire
Posted by: SMacB
N 53° 02.924 W 001° 44.454
30U E 584402 N 5878433
Stained glass window in St Edmund's church, Fenny Bentley, with the arms of Combermere Abbey.
Waymark Code: WM11WAP
Location: East Midlands, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 12/28/2019
Views: 1
Stained glass window in St Edmund's church, Fenny Bentley, with the arms of Combermere Abbey.
"Combermere Abbey is a former monastery, later a country house, near Burleydam, between Nantwich and Whitchurch in Cheshire, England, near the border with Shropshire. Initially Savigniac and later Cistercian, the abbey was founded in the 1130s by Hugh Malbank, Baron of Nantwich, and was also associated with Ranulf de Gernons, Earl of Chester. The abbey initially flourished, but by 1275 was sufficiently deeply in debt to be removed from the abbot's management. From that date until its dissolution in 1538, it was frequently in royal custody, and acquired a reputation for poor discipline and violent disputes with both lay people and other abbeys. It was the third largest monastic establishment in Cheshire, based on net income in 1535.
After the dissolution it was acquired by Sir George Cotton, who demolished the church and most of the buildings, and converted part of the abbey into a country house. The house was remodelled in 1563 by Sir George's son, Richard Cotton, altered in 1795 by Sir Robert Cotton, and Gothicised in 1814–21 by Stapleton Cotton, Viscount Combermere. It remained in the Cotton family until 1919, and is still in private ownership.
The abbey is listed at grade I, and is on the "Heritage at Risk" register, with the north wing being in danger of collapse. Its park includes the large lake of Comber Mere, a Site of Special Scientific Interest. A total of around 400 hectares (990 acres) of the park are listed at grade II; several structures are also listed, including a game larder at grade II*."
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