Beeleigh

Title

Beeleigh

Also Known As

Bileigh, Bilee, Bilegh, Maldon

Dates

Founded 1180; dissolved 1536

Dedication

Mary; Nicholas

Affiliation

Newsham

Medieval Diocese

London

History

This community was founded at Parndon Magna by one Roger, and then transferred to Beeleigh ca. 1180 by Robert de Mantel, lord of Little Maldon. In the Middle Ages, Beeleigh was a pilgrimage site as it housed relics associated with Roger Niger, a 13th-century bishop of London.

Following the Dissolution, the buildings were used for a time as a public house. Beeleigh underwent a restoration from the 1910s, and is now a private residence. The site was partly excavated 2000-2006.

Heads of Community

Abbots

Robert, fl. 1172
Henry I, 1188-89
Henry II, 1208-09
John I, 1247-49
Walter, 1253-54
Roger, 1254-62
Andrew I, fl. 1265
Reginald, 1268-69
Andrew II, 1272-80
R., fl. 1298
William I of Rokelaunde (or Rockland) ?-1323
William II Compton, 1323-ca. 1331
Richard of Purlee (or Purleigh), fl. ca. 1350
William III, ca. 1373-1379
John II, ?-1384
Thomas Cok (or Cokke), 1384-1405
John III Colchester, 1405-27
Stephen Manweden (Mersey?), 1429-38
Thomas Ormsby (or Rysom), 1439-ca. 1440
John IV Burton (or Boston), ca. 1440-61
William IV Kirkby, 1462-78
Thomas Scarlet, 1481-1510
John V Copsheffe (or Copsheth), 1513-36

Status

Abbey

Archival Sources

Canterbury, Canterbury Cathedral Archives and Library

CCA-DCc-ChAnt/B/28 (1222x1238).

Oxford, Bodleian Library

MS. Auct. D. inf. 2. 6. (Gospel of Luke, 13th c.; formerly owned by Beeleigh)

Bibliography

A Short History of Beeleigh Abbey. London: W. and G. Foyle Ltd., 1950.
“Beeleigh Abbey, Essex.” Notes and Queries CXLVIII (May 1925): 395–96. https://doi.org/10.1093/nq/CXLVIII.may30.395g.
Clark, A. “Buried Treasure at Beeleigh Abbey.” Essex Review: An Illustrated Quarterly Record of Everything 16 (1907): 68–71. https://books.google.com/books?id=s0MNAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA68.
Draper, George. Historical Account of Beeleigh Abbey, Essex. London: G. Draper, 1818.
Fowler, Robert Copp, and Alfred William Clapham. Beeleigh Abbey, Essex. London: R.E. Thomas, 1924. https://books.google.com/books?id=MqB77sHmI9cC.
Foyle, Christopher. Beeleigh Abbey: A Guide and History. London: Christopher Foyle Publishing, 2012.
Grantham, A. E. Dissolution 1536-7: Suffered by Brother Ambrose, of Beeleigh Abbey, Temp. Henry VIII. London: The Eastern Press, 1917. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006531545.
Linford, Paul. Beeleigh Abbey, Maldon, Essex : Archaeomagnetic Dating Report, 2002. No. 108/2002. CfA Reports. Historic England, 2002. https://historicengland.org.uk/research/results/reports/108-2002.
Nicholson, N. J. Gregory, and A. A. Thomson. Beeleigh Abbey, Essex, 750th Anniversary: A Series of Episodes from the History of the Abbey Presented by the Essex County Drama School in the Grounds of the Abbey, on Saturday, June 28th, 1930. London: R.E. Thomas & Newman, 1930.
Page, William, and J. H. Round, eds. “House of Premonstratensian Canons: Abbey of Beeleigh by Maldon.” In A History of the County of Essex, vol. 2, 172–76. London, 1907. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol2/pp172-176.
Robinson, David. “Governed for God’s Praise.” Country Life (Bath), 2022. https://www.countrylife.co.uk/architecture/beeleigh-abbey-an-incredible-medieval-house-thats-barely-altered-since-henry-viiis-dissolution-of-the-monasteries-249994.
The Times. “A Play of Beeleigh Abbey.” January 24, 1921.

Image Credit

Exterior of Beeleigh Abbey House, 2009. Wikimedia.

Last Updated

Oct. 2026.

Files

Collection

Southern England

Citation

“Beeleigh,” A Premonstratensian Atlas, accessed October 16, 2026, https://yvonneseale.org/atlas/items/show/132.

Geolocation

Item Relations

This Item DependentOn Item: Newsham