In 1149 William of Berkeley, whose family was rising to prominence in Gloucestershire, persuaded Cistercian monks from Tintern Abbey to found a community at Kingswood.
The site of the 12th century abbey is popularly believed to be Abbey Farm, but there is little evidence to support this claim.
History
In about 1149 most of the monks moved to Hazleton and the abbey was reduced to the status of a grange, the centre of an agricultural estate.
In 1164–70, however, the monks returned and founded a new abbey on a more favourable site near the river, and this flourished until its suppression in 1538.
It probably followed the normal plan with a church, chapter house, refectory, dormitory and other buildings grouped round a cloister and garth (garden). In Cistercian abbeys there was a separate dormitory for the lay brothers, and other buildings such as the infirmary and guesthouse would have stood in an outer precinct, together with barns and stables.
Description
All that now remains of the abbey is the early 16th century gatehouse with a range of precinct wall on each side, although there are signs of earthworks in the surrounding fields.
It is built of ashlar with a Cotswold stone-tile roof and has two entrances, one for wheeled traffic and the other for pedestrians.
A canopied niche over the latter entrance once contained a statue of the Virgin Mary, although all that can now be seen is a dove representing the Holy Spirit. Over the main arch is a mullioned window with the figure of God the Father carved into the tracery and below it is a carving of a pot of lilies.
Taken together, the whole composition must represent the Annunciation – an appropriate way to remind those entering the abbey that they were crossing a spiritual as well as a material threshold.
The upper room of the gatehouse is reached from a stone doorway immediately to the rear of the gateway. The gate passage has a lierne vault (one that has ribs running between the bosses as well as to and from the wall).
Sources
Arnold, A J, Howard, R E and Litton, C D 2003. 'Tree-ring analysis of timbers from Kingswood Abbey Gatehouse, Kingswood, Gloucestershire', English Heritage Centre for Archaeology: Portsmouth
Disclaimer
The text and pictures on this page are derived from the 'Heritage Unlocked' series of guidebooks published in 2004. We intend to review, update and enhance the content in the near future as part of the Portico project, whose objective is to provide information on the history, significance, research background and sources for all English Heritage properties.
