Egglestone

Title

Egglestone

Also Known As

Eglestone, Egliston, Eglyston, Englestona

Dates

Founded 1195-1198; dissolved 1540

Dedication

John the Baptist, Mary

Affiliation

Easby

Medieval Diocese

York

History

Egglestone was founded between 1195 and 1198, with its first brothers coming from Easby. Always a small and poorly endowed community, its abbey church was still nonetheless rebuilt and enlarged in the 13th century as part of a general programme of rebuilding. It was sacked twice in the 14th century.

Following Eggletone's dissolution in 1540, the property was granted to one Robert Strelley, who converted it into a private residence. The site was uninhabited in the late 18th century, and during the 19th century was turned into a group of dwellings for labourers.

Heads of Community

Abbots

Ralph de Moleton, fl. 1198
William
Nicholas, fl. 1200
Stephen, fl. 1205
H., fl. 1214
Robert, fl. 1216
William, fl. 1226
Roger, fl. 1228-29
Hamo, ca. 1235-ca. 1239
Robert, ca. 1250-ca. 1254
John of Easby, ca. 1296-1307
Thomas of Durham, 1307-?
William, 1309-?
Bernard of Langton, 1313-?
John of Theakston, 1330-?
Alexander of Easby, 1349-?
William of Startforth (or de Stratford), 1351-?
John, fl. 1364
Peter of Easby, 1377-?
John English (or Inglys), ca. 1401-1411
John of Wells, 1411-1412
Thomas Moreton (or Murton), 1412-aft. 1423
John de Moreton, fl. 1430s
Thomas Rayner, 1445-1449
Richard Hilton, 1449-?
William Mydelham, 1451-?
John Woolston, 1455-?
Robert Ellerton, 1476-?
William Westerdale, 1495-?
John Wakefield, 1503-?
Thomas Darnton (or Shepherd), 1519-1540

Status

Abbey

Archival Sources

Carlisle, Cumbria Archive Centre

D LONS/L1/1/18/36 (17th c.)

Durham, Durham University Library and Collections

Additional MS 447 (1522)

Kew, The National Archives

WORK 31/1186 (1926, plan)

WORK 31/1187 (1926; plan)

WORK 31/1188 (1926; plan)

WORK 31/1189 (1926; plan)

WORK 31/1190 (1926; plan)

Leeds, Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society

DD56.

London, Victoria and Albert Museum

E.987-2001. (1893, photo)

Swindon, Historic England Archive

AL0264/063/01 (1928, plan)

Warwick, Warwickshire County Record Office

CR 26/1/12/L/23 (ca. 1299)

CR 26/1/12/L/32 (1299)

Bibliography

Dunn, Christopher, and Amy Lax. “The Medieval and Later Landscape at Egglestone Abbey, Teesdale, County Durham.” Archaeological Investigation Report Series. English Heritage, 2001. https://historicengland.org.uk/research/results/reports/6487/TheMedievalandLaterLandscapeatEgglestoneAbbeyTeesdaleCountyDurhamSurveyReport.

Graham, Rose. Egglestone Abbey, Yorkshire. Department of the Environment Official Handbook. London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1958.

Hislop, Malcolm J.B. Barnard Castle, Bowes Castle and Egglestone Abbey. English Heritage Guidebooks. London: English Heritage, 2019.

Hodgson, J.F. “Egglestone Abbey.” Yorkshire Archaeological Journal 18 (1904): 129–82. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.b4957848?urlappend=%3Bseq=153.

———. The Praemonstratensian Abbey of S. Mary & S. John Baptist, Eggleston. Leeds: s.n., 1895.

Kenyon, Katy, and Lorimer Poultney. Barnard Castle, County Durham : Egglestone Abbey, North Yorkshire : Bowes Castle, North Yorkshire. English Heritage Guidebooks. London: English Heritage, 1999.

Monthly Chronicle of North-country Lore and Legend. “Egglestone Abbey.” November 1891. https://books.google.com/books?id=ULc_AQAAMAAJ.

Page, William, ed. “Premonstratensian Houses: Egglestone Abbey.” In A History of the County of York, 3:249–51. London, 1974. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/yorks/vol3/pp249-251.

Turnbull, Percival, and Deborah Walsh. “The Excavation of the Gatehouse, Egglestone Abbey, Co Durham. A Report to Durham County Council.” The Brigantia Archaeological Practice, 2000.

Image Credit

Ruins of Egglestone Abbey, 2012. Wikimedia.

Files

Collection

Northern England

Citation

“Egglestone,” A Premonstratensian Atlas, accessed October 16, 2026, https://yvonneseale.org/atlas/items/show/150.

Geolocation