St. Benet's Abbey
|
St. Benet's Abbey in early morning October mist |
St. Benet's Abbey is a
ruined abbey situated on the
River Bure within
The Broads National Park in
Norfolk, England. It is also known as St. Benet's at Holme or Hulme.
 |
The Cross at the High Altar of St. Benet's Abbey |
St. Benet's, according to
abbey tradition, was founded on the site of a ninth-century
monastery where the
hermit Suneman was martyred by the Danes. About the end of the tenth century it was rebuilt by one Wulfric. A generation later, c. 1022, its estates of Horning, Ludham and Neatishead were confirmed by King
Canute. Other early benefactors included Edith Swan-neck, concubine to
Harold Godwinson, and Earl Ralf II of East Anglia.
At the time of the
Norman Conquest Harold Godwinson put the
abbot of St. Benet's, Aelfwold, in charge of defending the coast against invasion. After the Conquest, Aelfwold fled to Denmark, and the
abbey's estates suffered encroachments by neighbouring landowners.
The site was enclosed by a wall with
battlements in
1327.
St Benet's was the only religious house not closed down by
Henry VIII during the
Dissolution of the Monasteries. Instead he united the Abbacy with the
Bishopric of
Norwich and therefore, the
Bishops] of [[Norwich, England have stayed
Abbots of St. Benet's to this day. However, the buildings were allowed to fall into decay and the
Abbey was abandoned about 1545.
The Bishop of Norwich, as
Abbot, arrives once a year, standing in the bow of a
wherry and preaches at the annual service on the first day of August.
About the year 1800 a farmer built a
windpump inside the abbey gatehouse.
On 2nd August
1987 a
cross made from
oak from the Royal Estate at
Sandringham was erected on the site of the High Altar.
The years listed are election dates
.
