History of Beauchief Abbey
The murder of St. Thomas a Becket in Canterbury Cathedral on 29th December 1170 AD brought about the founding of the Abbey.
Robert Fitzranulph, Lord of Alfreton, was said to have felt remorse at Thomas a Becket’s murder and gave land, sealing a charter granting the establishment of an Abbey at Beauchief which would be dedicated to
“God, St Mary, St Thomas and the blessed brethren of Premontre”
A group of Premonstratensian white canons, an order founded by St Norbert at Premontre in France, settled at Beauchief and began building and establishing the abbey. According to the records, the official founding day was 21st December 1183.
In the following years the Abbey was granted further land so that by 1300 possessions included land in Ecclesall, Fulwood, Chesterfield, Eckington, Staveley, Totley, Greenhill, Dore, Handley, Watchill and Dronfield. Records of the lands held by the Abbey and the life of the church were copied by the canons into a book known as the "Cartulary". This book is in its original bindings and held by the Archives of Sheffield City Council.
Usually, between 12 and 15 canons lived and worked in the Abbey. The Abbey had canons rather than monks because they were ordained priests working in local communities, some taking charge of nearby churches.
Henry VIII’s an Dissolution of the Monasteries saw an end to medieval church life at the Abbey. On 4th February 1536 the Abbot of Beauchief, John Greenwood, handed over the Abbey keys to the King’s representatives who smashed windows, stripped the lead from the roof and left the building to fall into ruin.
Following the enforced abandonment of the Abbey the King sold the land at Beauchief to Sir Nicholas Strelley for £223. In 1648 the land came by marrige, into the possession of the Pegge family.
By the 1660s the fabric of the Abbey had fallen into disrepair and much of the stone was used for the building of Beauchief Hall, a little further up the hill.
The Abbey Church building was restored in the 1660’s by constructing a chapel that extended from the remains of the medieval Abbey tower. This chapel and tower remain as the church building today.
The Pegge family continued to own Beauchief Hall and the Abbey until 1923, when it passed to Mr. Frank Crawshaw and in 1931 he sold the land occupied today by Beauchief Golf Course to the Sheffield Corporation.
At the same time Mr. Crawshaw offered the Abbey, adjacent cottages, graveyard and Abbey grounds as a gift to the Corporation, for the Citizens of Sheffield, on condition that Church of England services should continue in the Abbey and that it should not be used for any other purpose.
Church services continue at the Abbey to this day.
The abbey receives visits from groups and individuals on a regular basis.
If you'd like to a arrange of group visit to learn more about the Abbey's heritage and the life of the church please get into contact with us today.
Images courtesy of Pictures Sheffield
