ABINGDON. THE origin of this town is enveloped in uncertainty. Some have supposed it to be a settlement of the Britons on their conversion to Christianity; and this opinion they have endeavoured to substantiate, by adducing the cross, and other relics of devotion, which the Saxons were said to have discovered here after they had expelled the ancient inhabitants; and also by the following legendary tale, which has been preserved in some of the early chronicles. "At the time when the wicked pagan Hengist basely murdered 460 noblemen and barons at Stonhengest, or Stonehenge; ABEN, a nobleman's son, escaped into a wood on the south side of Oxfordshire, where leading a most holy life, the inhabitants of the country flocking to him to hear the word of God, built him a dwelling-house and a chapel in honour of the Holy Virgin; but he, disliking their resort, stole away to Ireland; and from him the place where he dwelt is called Abingdun." This story is regarded by other writers as undeserving of belief, and the foundation of the town ascribed to the Saxons, by whom it appears to have been called Seukesham, Shoevesham, or Seove chesham; the word being differently spelt by various writers. "As soon as Cissa, King of the West-Saxons, founded the monastery or abbey here, it gradually dropt its older name, and began to assume that of Abbandun and Abbingdon, i. e. the Town of the Abbey." This derivation is rendered plausible by the circumstance of Shoevesham having been granted to the abbey by Kenwin, who governed the West-Saxons after Cissa; and at the time he conferred the valuable gift, gave orders that it should in future be called Abendum. † To whatever age or people the colonization of this spot may be attributed, it is certain that it had arrived at considerable importance at a very early period. An anonymous writer observes, "that it was in ancient times a famous city, goodly to behold, full * Camden. + Dugdale. full of riches, encompassed with very fruitful fields, green meadows, spacious pastures, and flocks of cattle abounding with milk. Here the King kept his court, and hither the people resorted while consultations were depending about the greatest and most weighty affairs of the kingdom." Mr. Gough imagines it to be the place where several synods were held in the eighth and ninth centuries; the first as early as the year 742. The monastery was founded by Cissa, already mentioned, and Heane, his nephew, the vice-roy of Wilts, and part of Berkshire, in 675. It was begun at Bagley-Wood, about two miles higher on the river; but not prospering there, was removed to Seukesham. "There were twelve mansions about this monastery at first, and as many chapels inhabited by twelve monks, without any cloister, but shut in with a high wall; none being allowed to go out without great necessity, and the abbot's leave. No woman ever entered the same; and none dwelt there but the twelve monks and the abbot. They wore black habits, and lay on sackcloth, never eating flesh, unless in dangerous sickness. +" In the reign of Alfred it was destroyed by the Danes, and continued desolate, and in ruins, till the year 954, when, through the cunning policy of Dunstan, who, to promote his own schemes, was endeavouring to fill the kingdom with Benedictine institutions, and the persuasions of Ethelwold, afterwards Bishop of Winchester, King Edgar restored some part of its ancient magnificence. Ethelwold, who was appointed abbot the same year, enlarged the monastery, and caused a trench to be cut from the Thames, for its convenience and cleanliness. He likewise erected the abbey church, and embellished it with many costly ornaments. Succeeding abbots increased its splendor; and soon after the conquest its wealth and grandeur are said to have been equal to lar foundation in England. * any simi About Hearne conjectures this place to be Chilswell-Farm, at the west end of + Monasticon. About this time the buildings appear to have undergone great alterations; but the accounts are so confused, that the particulars can hardly be comprehended. Leland says, that "Fabricius removed the old church, which then stood more northerly, where now the orchard is, and made the east part and transept new, adorning it with small marble pillars." Fabricius died in 1117. The central tower, the body of the church, and the west front, with its towers, were erected by four succeeding abbots. In this state it appears to have remained till the dissolution, when the splendid fabric was entirely destroyed; with the exception of the Gate-House, which has since been converted into a goal. Its revenues were valued at nearly 2000l. a year. This immense income arose from the various possessions and immunities which had been granted to the abbey by different princes. The Kings Ina, Kenulph, Ethelwulph, Edred, Edgar, &c. and various other Monarchs, may be numbered with its benefactors. Kenulph endowed it with fifteen mansions, called Qulnam, and all their appurtenances, as an inheritance for ever; and at the same time exempted it from all episcopal jurisdiction, declaring, by his charter, that all causes should be subject to the decree of the abbot only. The celebrated lawyer, Sir Edward Coke, inferred from this deed, that the ecclesiastical jurisdiction had always been invested in the Crown, consequently that the statute made in the reign of Henry the Eighth, concerning the King's spiritual authority, was not an introductory but a declaratory law, and therefore ought not to be regarded as the assumption of a new prerogative. Pope Eugenius the Third, in the year 1146, confirmed all the grants that had been made to the abbey, and favored it with some additional privileges. Previous to the invention of printing, and the general diffusion of knowledge occasioned by that important art, the business of tuition was chiefly confined to the cloister. The bosom of the monk was the only depositary of the sciences, and to him it was necessary to apply before the fountain of instruction could be set flowing. When William the Conqueror departed from Abingdon, where he had passed his Easter in the year 1084, he intrusted the the education of Henry, his youngest son, to the inmates of the monastery, who appear to have executed the important charge with fidelity; the learning of the Prince having procured him the surname of Beauclerk. The abbey became the burial-place of many illustrious persons. The remains of Cissa, the joint-founder, were interred within its walls; but every vestige of his memory was destroyed by the Danes. Geoffrey of Monmouth, St. Vincent, Sidemanne Bishop of Crediton, and Robert D'Oily, were among the eminent characters whose bones were here committed to the silent tomb. The relics of Edward the Martyr were also, according to Leland, preserved in this fabric. On the suppression of the religious houses by Henry the Eighth, the monks of Abingdon were charged with the most gross incontinence. The abbot, in particular, was not only accused of maintaining three courtezans, but also of an incestuous intercourse with his own sister, by whom he is said to have had two children. This accusation, in all probability, originated with the contrivers. of the many absurd reports to the prejudice of monasteries, which at that period were thought necessary to further the designs of the rapacious Henry. The Monarch himself appears to have given it no credit, since, we are informed, that he invested the abbot with the park and mansion of Cumnor, and other lands, besides granting him a pension of 2001. yearly. The name of this prelate was Thomas Pentecost, alias Rowland: he subscribed to the royal supremacy in the year 1534, and surrendered his monastery the 9th of February 1538. The abbey was mitred, and dedicated to St. Nicholas. This was not the only religious establishment that existed in Abingdon; for Cissa, sister to Heane, founded a nunnery near the Thames, called Helnestow, of which she afterwards became the abbess; and having obtained "a small piece of one of our Saviour's nails, placed it in a cross, and dedicated the monastery to the Holy Cross and St. Helen.t" On the death of Cissa, the VOL. I. M *See Dugdale. Camden says, Cilla, sister of King Ceadwalla. + Stevens's Additions to the Monasticon, nuns nuns were removed to Witham, whence they dispersed at the commencement of the war between Offa, King of the Mercians, and Kinewulph, the Sovereign of the West Saxons. Previous to the construction of Burford and Culham Bridges, in the year 1416, this town was principally supported by the abbey; but the building of those fabrics having occasioned the high road from Gloucester to the metropolis to be turned through Abingdon, it acquired so much additional traffic, as to rank with the most distinguished places in the county. The honor of erecting these bridges has been given to Henry the Fifth; but the chief contributor to both was Geoffrey Barbour, a merchant, who gave 1000 marks towards their completion, and the making a causeway between them. Some particulars concerning this benefaction, and a curious relation of the proceedings at the building of Culham Bridge, are inscribed on a tablet* hanging in Christ's Hospital, which was founded on the site of the nunnery just mentioned, by G. Barbour, and St. John de St. Helena. This hospital was anciently called St. Helen's, but received its present appellation from Sir John Mason, who, in the year 1553, endowed it for thirteen poor men and women. Over the entrance are these words: HOSPITIA HÆC POSITA SUNT A. D. MDCCXVIII. IN DEI GLORIAM A QUO, ET AD QUEM OMNIA, IN PAUPERUM LEVAMEN EX REDITIBUS QUI HOSPITALI ALENDORUM EJUSDEM SUMPTIBUS EXTRUCTA. DEUS DEDIT, ETIAM ET DET INCREMENTUM. The *The inscription is in Latin, and has been printed by Hearne in a note to Leland's Itinerary, and also by Ashmole, together with a quaint translation in rhyme. Leland says, "Ther wrought that somer 300 men on Culham bridge." Hearne observes, that, "The best artists that could be found were employed, and every man had a penny a day, which was the best wages, and an extraordinary price in those times, when the best wheat was now and then sold for twelve-pence a quarter." |