Monument record 758/1/1 - Vale Royal Abbey Church

<1> Colvin H.M. (ed), 1963-1982, The History of the King's Works (Book). SCH3161.

The Abbey Church was dedicated to St Mary and the foundation stone was laid in 1277. Its final length of 421 ft made it the largest Cistercian church built in England and only a few feet shorter than Vaucelles, the largest Cistercian Abbey in Europe. The eastern end was embellished by the Black Prince to a unique design by William of Helpeston in 1359 and completed despite the effects of disastrous gale in 1360 in which the piers of the nave were pulled out like trees. Following this disaster the King was petitioned to allow the shortening and narrowing of the nave.

<2> Pendleton B, 1912, Notes on the Cistercian Abbey of Vale Royal, 3, p.302-3 (Monograph). SCH2287.

The plan of the nave, aisle and transepts was proven by Pendleton's excavations, though no shortening was detailed.

<3> Society of Antiquities London, 1921-2014, The Antiquaries Journal, 42, Thompson F H 1962 (Journal/Periodical). SCH284.

The chevet of 13 radiating chapels around an ambulatory was proven by Thompson's exacvations.

<4> McNeil R & Turner R C, 1986, An Archaeological Survey of Vale Royal Abbey (Unpublished Report). SCH243.

Holcroft plucked down the church in 1539 and the stone may have been reused in the house, and Over and Weaverham Churches.

<5> The Society for Medieval Archaeology, 1957-Present, Medieval Archaeology, Thompson F H 1959 (Journal/Periodical). SCH2131.

<6> English Heritage, Various, Old/Original Schedule Entry (Scheduled Ancient Monuments Description), SAM 30398 1999 (Scheduling Record). SCH4606.

<6> English Heritage, Various, Schedule Entry (Scheduled Ancient Monuments Amendment), SAM 30398 1999 (Scheduling Record). SCH2950.

When the building work on the abbey was completed the abbey church was longest built by the Cistercians in England. It stood on the north side of the monastic complex. The design was cruciform im plan with a massive central tower and probably two towers on the western end of the nave. The Black prince commisioned a new east end for the chancel in 1359 with 13 chapels arranged in an elaborate chevet or fan shape, echoing the east end of the cathedral of Toledo in Spain.

<7> Feral, 2017, Aerial Photographic Survey: Vale Royal Abbey, Digital Archive (Digital Archive). SCH8655.

Drone photographic survey of Vale Royal Abbey showing architectural detail and condition as of September 2017.

<8> Lancaster University Archaeological Unit, 1998, Vale Royal Scheduled Area, Cheshire: Interim Evaluation and Excavation Report, R2239 (Client Report). SCH4005.

An archaeological evaluation was undertaken in 1998 in the grounds of Vale Royal House and within the scheduled area of the Abbey Church and Cloisters. The evaluation comprised two small excavations, seventeen evaluation trenches excavated to a maximum depth of 300mm, and a watching brief. The work forms part of a wider programme of fieldwork necessitated by the refurbishment of Vale Royal House and the landscaping of the grounds for a golf course. Foundations and deposits relating to the nave of the Abbey Church were recorded. (See also source 9, for full report, SCH3952, R2299)

<9> Lancaster University Archaeological Unit, 1998, Vale Royal Scheduled Area, Cheshire: Archaeological Evaluation and Excavation Report, R2299 (Client Report). SCH3952.