Halesowen

Title

Halesowen

Also Known As

Halaes, Hales Owein, Hales Owen, Hallesoweyn, Halsowyn, Heyles

Dates

Founded 1215; dissolved 1538

Dedication

John the Evangelist, Mary

Affiliation

Welbeck

Medieval Diocese

Worcester

Circary

Mid England

History

Halesowen was founded in 1215 by Peter des Roches, bishop of Winchester, on land granted by John of England. The first brothers came from Welbeck. It was a modestly prosperous abbey.

The community was suppressed in 1536 and the property passed into private hands. Significant ruins remain on the site.

Heads of Community

Abbots

Roger, fl. 1218
Richard I, 1232-1245/51
Henry I of Branewyk, fl. aft. 1251
Martin, late 13th c.?
Nicholas, ?-1299
John I of Coventry, 1299-?
Walter de la Flagge, 1305-?
Bartholomew, 1314-?
Thomas I of Lech, 1322-1331
Thomas II of Birmingham (or Burmeigham), 1331-?
William I of Bromsgrove (or Brumsgreve), 1366-1369
Richard II of Hampton, 1369-1391
John II of Hampton, 1391-?
John III Poole, 1395-?
Henry II of Kidderminster, 1422-?
John IV Derby, 1442-1486
John V Hay, 1480s?
Thomas III Bruges, 1486-1505
Edmund Green, 1505-1521
William II Taylor, ?-1538

Status

Abbey

Archival Sources

Birmingham, Birmingham: Archives, Heritage and Photography Service

MS 3279 (12th-16th c.)

MS 3688/34 (1494) 

Kew, The National Archives

E 40/15118 (1377)

E 106/12/4 (14th/15th c.)

E 210/2990 (n.d.)

E 326/8970 (1349)

E 326/12945 (1538-39)

SP 46/183/fo140 (1504)

WORK 14/1067 (1937-39; report)

London, Society of Antiquaries of London

MS 535 (1360s; account roll)

Shrewsbury, Shropshire Archives

SRO 3322 (Later copies)

Smethwick, Sandwell Community History and Archives Service

M 1/2/xxiii (19th c.; drawing)

Swindon, Historic England Archive

AL0264/079/01 (1928; plan)

Walsall, Walsall Archives

35/4/10 (1451) 

Warwick, Warwickshire County Record Office

CR 1291/640 (15th c.; customary)

Worcester, Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service

705:962/8965/4/vi (Later copies)

Bibliography

Arnold, Alison, and Robert Howard. Halesowen Abbey, Dudley, West Midlands: Tree-Ring Analysis of Timbers. Research Department Report Series 90/2008. Portsmouth: English Heritage, 2008.

Bond, C. James. “Halesowen Abbey Guest House, Site (SO/97568283).” Worcestershire Archaeology and Local History Newsletter 6 (1970): 10–11.

Brown, Graham. Halesowen Abbey and Its Environs. Archaeological Investigation Report Series 19. Swindon: English Heritage, 2005.

Crew, Kathleen. Life at Hales Owen Abbey. Halesowen: Hales Owen Local History Group, 1984.

Davis-Winstone, W.E. “Hales Owen Abbey at the End of the Fifteenth Century.” Birmingham and Midland Institute. Birmingham Archaeological Society. Transactions, Excursions, and Report. 35 (1909): 1–15. https://books.google.com/books?id=xl0JAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA1.

Holliday, J.R. “Decorative Pavement Tiles on the Site of Hales Owen Abbey.” Archaeological Journal 28 (1871): 244–46. https://archive.org/details/archaeologicalj01assogoog/page/n308/mode/2up.

———. “Hales Owen Abbey (With Illustrations).” Transactions and Proceedings. Birmingham and Midland Institute Archaeological Section, 1872, 49–72. https://books.google.com/books?id=8mw-AQAAMAAJ.

Hunt, J.A. A History of Halesowen Abbey. Dudley: s.n., 1979.

Hunt, Joe. A History of Hales Owen Abbey. Some Papers Concerning the History of Romsley 14. Romsley: Romsley and Hunnington History Society, 1996. https://www.rhhs.org.uk/local-history/halesowen-abbey.html?limitstart=0.

Jones, Barry V. Barn at Manor Farm, Halesowen Abbey, West Midlands: Investigation of the Remains of the South Aisle and Cloister of the Abbey Church. Research Department Report Series 64/2006. Portsmouth: English Heritage, 2006. https://historicengland.org.uk/research/results/reports/5514/BarnatManorFarmHalesowenAbbeyWestMidlands_InvestigationoftheRemainsoftheSouthAisleandCloisteroftheAbbeyChurch.

Molyneux, N.A.D. “A Late 13th Century Building at Halesowen Abbey.” Transaction of the Worcestershire Archaeological Society, Third Series, 9 (1984): 45–53.

Nenk, Beverley S., and James Farrant. “A Medieval Decorated Floor Tile from Halesowen Abbey.” In Approaches to Archaeological Illustration : A Handbook, edited by Mélanie Steiner and Lindsay Allason-Jones, 18–21. CBA Practical Handbooks in Archaeology 18. York: Council for British Archaeology, 2005.

Pound, A.G. “The Importance of Halesowen Abbey in the Life of the English People.” M.A. Thesis, University of Birmingham, 1926.

Razi, Zvi. “The Struggles between the Abbots of Halesowen and Their Tenants in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries.” In Social Relations and Ideas. Essays in Honour of R.H. Hilton, 151–67. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983.

Somers, F. “Recent Discoveries on the Site of Hales Owen Abbey.” Transactions of the Worcestershire Archaeological Society, New Series, 15 (1939): 82–83.

Symons, D.J. “Two Floor Tiles from Halesowen Abbey.” Birmingham & Warwickshire Archaeological Society Transactions 96 (1991): 91–92.

Willis-Bund, J.W., and William Page, eds. “Houses of Premonstratensian Canons: Abbey of Halesowen.” In A History of the County of Worcester, 2:162–66. London, 1971. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/worcs/vol2/pp162-166.

Image Credit

Ruins of Halesowen Abbey, 2011. Wikimedia.

Files

Collection

Mid England

Citation

“Halesowen,” A Premonstratensian Atlas, accessed October 16, 2026, https://yvonneseale.org/atlas/items/show/94.

Geolocation

Item Relations

This Item DependentOn Item: Welbeck
Item: Talley DependentOn This Item
Item: Wallsall DependentOn This Item
Item: Warley DependentOn This Item