Sawley Abbey

Sawley Abbey, near Clitheroe

Sawley Abbey

Where is it – England, North West England

Who looks after it –  English Heritage 

What is it –  Abbey-Monastery, Free access, Ruin 

When is it from – Medieval

Sawley Abbey was founded in 1146 on land given by William, 3rd Lord Percy of Northumberland and colonised by monks from Newminster Abbey in Northumberland. In the 1280s, the monks of Sawley claimed that poor harvests, due to marshy ground and the inhospitable climate, made the Abbey untenable. In response, Maud de Percy, Countess of Warwick, gave valuable lands and churches at Rimington (near Barnoldswick), Ilkley, Gargrave and Tadcaster to the abbey and this new endowment encouraged the monks to remain. Even so, Sawley Abbey was always relatively poor. It also quarrelled with its fellow Cistercian abbey at Whalley, just 9 miles away, over grain supplies and fishing rights in the River Ribble. The Abbey was dissolved in 1536. Its last abbot, William Trafford, was hanged at Lancaster for taking part in the Pilgrimage of Grace. There’s little to see now, but it is a quiet spot adjacent to a residential area with pleasant views and it is possible to mentally reconstruct the buildings with the help of useful information boards.

 


Address

Sawley, Nr Clitheroe, Lancashire BB7 4NH 

Scroll to Top