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Langley Abbey

In the civil parish of Langley With Hardley. In the historic county of Norfolk (Modern Authority of Norfolk, 1974 county of Norfolk).

This site has been described as a;
Fortified Ecclesiastical site.
  Confidence: It is probable that this site was a medieval fortification or palace.   Masonry ruins/remnants remains.
Abbot and Convent of Langeley issued licence to crenellate in 1346. Parker identifies this as Abbot's Langley, Hertfordshire. The VCH refers the licence to Langley Abbey, Norfolk. The licence was for a crenellated belfry, which can hardly have been defensive. PastScape records this as "Premonstratensian Abbey founded in 1195 and dissolved in 1536. The precinct was surrounded by a wet ditch with three entrances. Some of the remains, visible above ground, are included in the present farm buildings. Excavations in 1921 revealed the remainder of the ground plan. The cruciform aisled church had a tower at the West end. The presbytery was flanked by chapels extending East from the transepts, and an additional chapel, North of the North transept, extending the full length of the transept and presbytery. The claustral buildings were arranged to the South. These included the sacristy, chapter house, parlour, dorter and its sub-vault and warming house in the East range, the frater in the South range, and cellarium in the West range. The gatehouse adjoined the North part of the cellarium at an oblique angle. Remains of a furnace in the Presbytery was presumably built, at the dissolution, to melt lead from the roof. Extant remains of the Abbey buildings comprise the stable, part of the Gatehouse, the Cellarium with vaulted undercroft to the North, parts of the West and North walls of the Chapter House and the South-East corner of the Infirmary. The stable and Cellarium are both in good condition and are used as farm buildings."
A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1346 Sept 15.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 226754; 226753; 226755)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TG36260285

Air Photo from multimap logo

Air Photo and general mapping

1st edition OS Map from old maps logo

Mid to late 19th century maps

Modern Map from Ordnance Survey logo

Landscape form and features

Modern Map from streetmap logo

General location and route planning

Geograph British Isles geography.org.uk logo
occasionally has photos of the site and will usually give an idea of the surrounding landscape.

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 133389
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 10344 'grey' literature, such as watching brief reports, held by H.E.R.s is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded in this website.

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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English Heritage and other individuals and organisations. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes. I do not receive any income from this site and I fund it myself.
The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.
Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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This record last updated on Thursday, December 17, 2009

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