Name: Roche Abbey
Rating: 5.0

Roche Abbey

Maltby, Rotherham, South Yorkshire S66 8NW, UK

1-99 Years

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Roche Abbey Visit Roche Abbey today, and you can explore the extensive ruins of a small Cistercian abbey in a dramatic valley with rocky limestone outcrops. Surviving almost to their full height, Roche’s soaring early Gothic church transepts became the ‘eyecatcher’ centrepiece of a Georgian landscape designed by Capability Brown.

Enjoy a great day out with a picnic by the stream, explore the gatehouse remains, admire the magnificent transept walls, and wander through the ruined lay brothers’ infirmary hall. Later changes revealed one of the most complete ground plans of any English Cistercian monastery.

Free Entry. If you are looking for Best place for day out with kids and families then this is the perfect destination offering fun, adventure, and unforgettable memories for everyone.

Features

Free
Host birthday parties: No

Features

History of Roche Abbey: Roche Abbey, founded in 1147 as a monastery of the Cistercian order, is most notable for the remains of its early Gothic church and for its early 13th-century great gatehouse. At its peak, about 1175, Roche had about 50 monks and 100 lay brothers and servants. The monastery was suppressed in 1538 – an event recorded in remarkable detail by a local clergyman – and many of the buildings were dismantled. Two hundred years later the ruins became the centrepiece of a designed landscape created in the 1770s by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown for the Earls of Scarbrough.
Origins of Roche: The procedures established by the Cistercian order decreed that a new monastery had to be founded from an existing one.[1] Accordingly, in 1147 an abbot and 12 monks, accompanied by about 20 lay brothers (who were responsible for most of the manual work in Cistercian monasteries), walked from Newminster Abbey in Northumberland to settle in wooden buildings constructed for them in a narrow valley 14 miles east of present-day Sheffield.
Medieval Decline and resurgence: Roche’s internal history appears to have been unexceptional. Estimates suggest a community that peaked in the early 13th century at about 50 monks and 100 lay brothers, who worked on farm granges or sheep pastures.
External events intruded, however, and resulted in changes. An early example was the decimation of the monastery’s sheep flocks by the murrain (sheep scab) in the 1270s. This disaster, which struck the whole of the north of England, hastened the decline in the number of lay brothers.
The Suppression of Roche: England’s monasteries were suppressed by Henry VIII in the late 1530s, and Roche’s monks surrendered the monastery to the king’s commissioners on 23 June 1538. In a brief ceremony in the chapter house they handed over the keys to their buildings and received pensions, and watched the clerks inventory all the monastery’s possessions.[9] Moveable items such as furniture were sold, some at auction.
Capability’ Brown: By 1627 the abbey remains were owned by Robert Saunderson of Fillingham in Lincolnshire. When his descendants died out in the early 18th century, the estates were left to a cousin, Thomas Lumley (c 1691–1752), who became 3rd Earl of Scarbrough.
After 200 years as ruins, the remains of the former abbey buildings and the valley in which they lay underwent a transformation in the 1770s. The 4th Earl of Scarbrough (1725–82) contracted England’s most famous landscape designer, Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown, to bring ‘order’ to the valley by remodelling it to contemporary tastes.
Antiquarian Clearances: In the 19th century later Earls of Scarbrough began undoing Brown’s work. Caring little about picture-like tableaus, they wanted the past exposed as a literal artefact, opened up for inspection and study.
Gardens: The abbey is set in a valley landscaped by 'Capability' Brown in the 18th century. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest: there is plenty of wildlife and four waterfalls, plus a stream running through the site. A public footpath with runs alongside the abbey.

Facilities

Parking: Free parking for about 10 cars is 250m from admissions on a rough path. Alternative parking available for disabled visitors beside admission point.

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Price

Price: Free

Birthday Parties

Offer Birthday Parties: No

Address: Maltby, Rotherham, South Yorkshire S66 8NW, UK

Post Code: S66 8NW

Council: Rotherham

County: South Yorkshire

Road Access: Roche Abbey is 1 1⁄2 miles south of Maltby, and 6 miles east of Rotherham, off the A634.
Bus Access: First services 1 to Maltby Muglet Lane then 1 1⁄2 miles walk. Alternatively TM Travel service 20 to Firbeck Village (then a 2 mile walk)
Train Access: Conisbrough Station is 7 miles from Roche Abbey.
Bicycle Access: Find your cycling route to Roche Abbey at sustrans.org.uk, the National Cycle Network.
Parking: Free parking for about 10 cars is 250m from admissions on a rough path. Alternative parking available for disabled visitors beside admission point.