 Shap Abbey, Cumbria
On a bleak day, deep in the scenic wilderness of Westmorland, the isolated
spot in which the ruins of Shap Abbey nestle presents a rather poignant
spectacle. Not easily accessible by road even today, this desolate environment
would have been perfect for the strictness and solitude sought by the
Order of Premonstratensian monks in the late 12th Century.
Originally settled some 20 miles south of Shap, they moved to 'Hepp'
c1200. The old name means 'a heap' and, despite the associated
appropriateness for such a deserted site, it gradually changed to Shap
over the next 100 years.
The Premonstratensians were
a 'halfway house' between the strict closed Order of the Cistercians,
and the more community orientated benevolence of the Augustinians. During
the early years their building style was very much based on the Cistercian
beliefs of austerity and simplicity and the original abbey church bears witness
to that fact. Although little more than foundation walls survive now,
from the ground plan it is obvious that the 13th Century church
was a modest structure.
No more than 200ft (60.6m) long,
it consisted of a six bay nave, a north aisle, a couple of chapels in
the transepts, and a plain narrow chancel. The west tower is the dominant
feature of the site today and is, ironically, the only part to be built
after the relaxation of the rules governing the simplistic lines of
monastic church building. Shap Abbey is instantly recognisable from
this massive Perpendicular tower erected at the west end of the nave,
which stands as a memorial to one of the great builders and reformers
of the late 15th Century. Richard Redman was the abbot of
Shap for some 50 years until his death in 1505 but, as the leading English
Premonstratensian of the time, he also held successive posts as Bishop
of St Asaph, Exeter, and Ely.
Escaping the initial phase
of the Dissolution in 1536, Shap Abbey was finally suppressed in 1540
and subsequently sold to the Governor of Carlisle. It seems that most
of the abbey church was demolished, and the stones quarried away, but the huge
solid tower structure proved more difficult to destroy. Many of the monastic
buildings were incorporated into a farmhouse and used as barns. In that
respect little change has occurred over the last four centuries because
the abbey ruins still form part of a working farm complex.
Our last snapshot of Shap Abbey,
as seen through driving rain whilst battling against the wind to trek
uphill across the exposed sodden field back to the road was one of a grey,
congested muddle of ruinous buildings struggling to survive the encroaching
farmyard paraphernalia. But it was definitely worth the effort, just because
it was there and we do hope to see it one day when the weather is kind.
Although there is a lot to be said for the magical atmosphere we experienced
in those atrocious conditions. |
