Rufford Abbey (Nottinghamshire)
The best-preserved remains of a Cistercian abbey west cloister range in England.
Introduction
In the heart of Robin Hood Country lies Rufford Abbey. Once one of the great private estates in Sherwood Forest it includes a country park with large areas of woodland and parkland criss-crossed with footpaths.The 12th Century Rufford Abbey was founded by Cistercian monks and later transformed for the Talbot and Savile families into a grand country house.
The Cistercian order was noted for its spartan way of life and its strict religious beliefs. The monk's lives consisted of work, study and prayer. By the middle of the 14th Century, the abbey was struggling to continue because of the dwindling number of monks. Rufford was one of the first to go when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries around 1536 because of its poverty and run down state.
Later the Crown granted the abbey to the Talbot family, one of England's richest and most powerful families. George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, transformed it into a grand country house.
Open
Jan-Feb 10am-4pm
All other months 10am-5pm
Closed 25th December
History to the present day
Rufford Abbey was founded by the Earl of Lincoln in 1146. It was suppressed in 1536 and the site acquired by the Earl of Shrewsbury who converted the west range of the cloister buildings into a private house. Rufford passed to the Savile family in the 17th century. The house fell into disrepair in the 1940`s and much was demolished in 1956. Wragby Hall in D.H.Lawrence`s “Lady Chatterley's Lover” is based on Rufford.
