Blanchland, Northumberland - St. Mary's Abbey - Friths postcard c.1960s

Postcard
• Picture / Image:  St. Mary's Abbey, Blanchland, Northumerland
• Publisher:  Friths
• Postally used:  no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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Blanchland is a model village in Northumberland, England, on the County Durham boundary.

Set beside the river in a wooded section of the Derwent valley, Blanchland is an attractive small village in the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Blanchland was formed out of the medieval Blanchland Abbey property by Nathaniel Crew, 3rd Baron Crew, the Bishop of Durham, 1674-1722. It is a conservation village, largely built of stone from the remains of the 12th century Abbey. It features picturesque houses, set against a backdrop of deep woods and open moors. Located near the Derwent Reservoir, it provides facilities for sailing and fishing. This village has an array of retail outlets including: a Post Office in Blanchland Stores, Gallery Upstairs and The White Monk Tea Rooms, and The Blanchland Deli.

The Lord Crewe Arms Hotel has a vast fireplace where 'General' Tom Forster hid during the Jacobite rising of 1715. W. H. Auden stayed at the Lord Crewe Arms with Gabriel Carritt at Easter 1930 and later remarked that no place held sweeter memories. Blanchland may have been the model for the village in which was set the opening and closing scenes of Auden and Isherwood's play The Dog Beneath the Skin (1935). Another celebrated poet Philip Larkin used to dine at the hotel when staying with Monica Jones in Haydon Bridge. In July 1969, Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears stayed at the Inn.

With a population of 140, its unspoilt qualities make it a frequent setting for period films, set in the 18th century, such as those based on the novels of Catherine Cookson.

Blanchland Abbey at Blanchland, in the English county of Northumberland, was founded as a premonstratensian priory in 1165 by Walter de Bolbec II, and was a daughter house of Croxton Abbey in Leicestershire. It became an abbey in the late 13th century. The 16th century former Abbot's house (now The Lord Crewe Arms Hotel) is a Grade II* listed building and the whole site is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

The abbey granges were pillaged during the Anglo-Scots wars, in particular during 1327, but the abbey itself was apparently left unscathed. There is however a legend that during one raid in the area, the monks prayed that the abbey would be spared. Subsequently, a mist descended which shielded the valley and monastery from view and was overlooked by the Scottish raiders, who passed by. The foolish monks upon hearing this, proceeded to ring the abbey bells to signal to every one in the valley that it was safe, that the invaders had passed. During their celebration of bell ringing, the Scottish invaders heard the bells, turned around and ransacked the Monastery.

The abbey was dissolved in 1539 and granted to the Bellow and Broxholm families. It was later acquired by the Radclyffe family from whom it passed by marriage to Nicholas Forster. Part of the abbey church was altered and retained for use as a parish church and the abbots former residence became the manor house. In 1612, it was the residence of Sir Claudius Forster, High Sheriff of Northumberland.

When in 1701 Fernando Forster was murdered, the estate passed through to co-heirs; Dorothy (sister of Fernando) who had married Nathaniel Crew, 3rd Baron Crew, Bishop of Durham and Thomas Forster of Adderstone, the son of her deceased sister Frances. The estate was however encumbered with debt. Lord Crew purchased all the Forster estates including Blanchland in 1704 for £20697 sufficient to pay off the creditors. The Forster connection with Blanchland came to an end as a result of Thomas Forster's involvement in the Jacobite rising of 1715. On his death in 1721, Lord Crew left all his properties to be administered in trust for charitable purposes (Lord Crewe's Charity)

The abbey gatehouse survives and the stone houses surrounding the village square were partly constructed using stone from the monastery. The manor house became an inn, the Lord Crewe Arms, in the 1720s.

type=real photographic (rp)

theme=topographical: british

sub-theme=england

county/ country=northumberland

number of items=single

period=1945 - present

postage condition=unposted