Thomas, J. A. and Very Rev, The Dean of Durham, J. (2006). Evidence for the Dissolution of Thorney Abbey: Recent Excavations and Landscape Analysis at Thorney, Cambridgeshire. Medieval Archaeology 50. Vol 50, pp. 179-241. https://doi.org/10.5284/1071976. Cite this via datacite
 Title The title of the publication or report |
Evidence for the Dissolution of Thorney Abbey: Recent Excavations and Landscape Analysis at Thorney, Cambridgeshire | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Subtitle The sub title of the publication or report |
recent excavations and landscape analysis at Thorney, Cambridgeshire | |||||||||||
Issue The name of the volume or issue |
Medieval Archaeology 50 | |||||||||||
Series The series the publication or report is included in |
Medieval Archaeology | |||||||||||
Volume Volume number and part |
50 | |||||||||||
Page Start/End The start and end page numbers. |
179 - 241 | |||||||||||
Downloads Any files associated with the publication or report that can be downloaded from the ADS |
|
|||||||||||
Licence Type ADS, CC-BY 4.0 or CC-BY 4.0 NC. |
ADS Terms of Use and Access
|
|||||||||||
DOI The DOI (digital object identifier) for the publication or report. |
|
|||||||||||
Publication Type The type of publication - report, monograph, journal article or chapter from a book |
Journal | |||||||||||
Abstract The abstract describing the content of the publication or report |
Excavation within the village of Thorney, Cambridgeshire, has revealed a sequence of occupation deposits associated with the former Benedictine abbey and reflecting some 600 years of use. Thorney Abbey was surrendered at the Dissolution of the Greater Monasteries in 1539 and over successive years many of the buildings were demolished and the stone removed for re-use elsewhere. As a consequence very little is known of the abbey's layout and organisation. In the Middle Ages Thorney was surrounded by fen wetland and the excavations reported on here were located near the northern edge of the former island, slightly to the north of the abbey church and suspected location of the main abbey precinct. The long sequence of deposits offered an insight into the changing character of fen-edge life on Thorney from the eleventh century onwards. Occupation remains and a sequence of contemporary structures indicated that despite the apparently peripheral location of the site in relation to the main abbey complex, life was rarely static on the island's northern edge. It is suggested that the structures and related remains were once part of the abbey's outer court. Dissolution deposits reflected the dismantling of windows and the salvage and recycling of lead came. A re-used architectural fragment, possibly a pillar base, had been converted into a lead recycling hearth and the immediately surrounding area was covered with the remains of the leadworking as well as a large assemblage of broken, high-quality painted window glass, the end result of the lead removal. Late-sixteenth-century structural evidence on the site has also shed light on some of the earliest secular occupation on the island following the Dissolution. A combination of the finds assemblages recovered during the work and documentary research has enabled a picture of life at medieval Thorney to be drawn for the first time. Documentary and cartographic work has also helped to understand the wider fenland context. Includes | |||||||||||
Year of Publication The year the book, article or report was published |
2006 | |||||||||||
Locations Any locations covered by the publication or report. This is not the place the book or report was published. |
|
|||||||||||
Note Extra information on the publication or report. |
[OS TF 2827 0429] | |||||||||||
Source Where the record has come from or which dataset it was orginally included in. |
ADS Archive
(ADS Archive)
|
|||||||||||
Relations Other resources which are relevant to this publication or report |
|
|||||||||||
Created Date The date the record of the pubication was first entered |
09 Jan 2007 |
