Attributed to Peter Tillemans, 1684-1734
A Panorama of Newstead Abbey, Nottinghamshire
pencil and grey wash
16 x 47 cm. (6.1/2 x 18.1/2 in.
Newstead Abbey, in Nottinghamshire, England, was formerly an Augustinian priory. Converted to a domestic home following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, it is now best known as the ancestral home of Lord Byron.
Monastic foundation
The priory of St. Mary of Newstead, a house of Augustinian Canons, was founded by King Henry II of England about the year 1170,as one of many penances he paid following the murder of Thomas Becket. Contrary to its current name, Newstead was never an abbey: it was a priory.
In the late 13th century, the priory was rebuilt and extended. It was extended again in the 15th-century, when the Dorter, Great Hall and Prior''s Lodgings were added. The priory was designed to be home to at least 13 monks, although there appears to have been only 12 (including the Prior) at the time of the dissolution.
The V
...alor Ecclesiasticus of 1534 gave the clear annual value of this priory as £167 16s. 11½d. The considerable deductions included 20s. given to the poor on Maundy Thursday in commemoration of Henry II, the founder, and a portion of food and drink similar to that of a canon given to some poor person every day, valued at 60s. a year.
Despite the clear annual value of Newstead being below the £200 assigned as the limit for the suppression of the lesser monasteries, this priory obtained the doubtful privilege of exemption, on payment to the Crown of the heavy fine of £233 6s. 8d in 1537.
The surrender of the house was accomplished on 21 July 1539. The signatures attached were those of John Blake, prior, Richard Kychun, sub-prior, John Bredon, cellarer, and nine other canons, Robert Sisson, John Derfelde, William Dotton, William Bathley, Christopher Motheram, Geoffrey Acryth, Richard Hardwyke, Henry Tingker, and Leonard Alynson.
The prior obtained a pension of £26 13s. 4d., the sub-prior £6, and the rest of the ten canons who signed the surrender sums varying from £5 6s. 8d. to £3 6s. 8d.
The lake was dredged in the late eighteenth century and the lectern, thrown into the Abbey fishpond by the monks to save it during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, was discovered. In 1805 it was given to Southwell Minster by Archdeacon Kaye where it still resides.
Priors of Newstead
Eustace, 1216
Richard, 1216
Robert, 1234
William (late cellarer), 1241
William, 1267
John de Lexinton, resigned 1288
Richard de Hallam, 1288
Richard de Grange, 1293
William de Thurgarton, 1324
Hugh de Colingham, 1349
William de Colingham, resigned 1356
John de Wylesthorp, resigned 1366
William de Allerton, 1366
John de Hucknall, 1406
William Bakewell, 1417
Thomas Carleton, resigned 1424
Robert Cutwolfe, resigned 1424
William Misterton, 1455
John Durham, 1461
Thomas Gunthorp, 1467
William Sandale, 1504
John Blake, 1526
Country house
Newstead Abbey in 1880.
Newstead Abbey in 2012
Newstead Abbey in 2007
Sir John Byron of Colwick in Nottinghamshire was granted Newstead Abbey by Henry VIII of England on 26 May 1540 and started its conversion into a country house. He was succeeded by his son Sir John Byron of Clayton Hall. Many additions were made to the original building. The 13th century ecclesiastical buildings were largely ruined during the dissolution of the monasteries. It then passed to John Byron, an MP and Royalist commander, who was created a baron in 1643. He died childless in France and ownership transferred to his brother Richard Byron. Richard''s son William was a minor poet and was succeeded in 1695 by his son William Byron, 4th Baron Byron.
Early in the 18th century, the 4th Lord Byron landscaped the gardens extensively, to which William Byron, 5th Baron Byronadded Gothic follies. It became a stately and glamorous estate. The 5th
Internal Reference: 4129
Antique ID Number (AIDN): SA605975
Dateline of this antique is 18th Century
Height is 16cm (6.3inches)Width is 47cm (18.5inches)Depth is 1cm (0.4inches)
Thank you.
Your comment has been sent to Sellingantiques.