Dale Abbey, also known as the Abbey of Stanley Park, was a religious house, close to Ilkeston in Derbyshire. Its ruins are located at the village of Dale Abbey, which is named after it. Its foundation legend portrays it as developing from a hermitage, probably in the early 12th century.
After several false starts, it was finally constituted as an abbey in 1204. It was affiliated to the Premonstratensians (also called Norbertines and White Canons), an order of canons regular in which it played, at times, a leading part among English houses. It acquired a large number of small properties, concentrated in areas of the East Midlands, developed a network of granges and appropriated a number of lucrative parish churches.
Its discipline and reputation varied considerably, particularly in the 15th century, and it seems to have fallen away from the original austerity. By 1536 its income was well below the threshold set for the Dissolution of Lesser Monasteries. Although there were accusations of grave immorality, the abbey was allowed to pay a fine to continue its existence until 1538.
Foundation legends From the Premonstratensian point of view, Dale Abbey was founded in 1204 from Newsham Abbey in Lincolnshire. However, the chronicle of the abbey, which dates from the mid-13th century,Page, W. (ed.) (1907) The Abbey of Dale, note anchor 2. gives a long and detailed prehistory. The author of the chronicle was Thomas de Muskham: the initial letters of the various sections of the foundation legend make up the name T. H. O. M. A. S. D. E. M. V. S. C. A.Cf. the transcript of the Latin chronicle, with initial letters picked out in blackletter, given in Thomas did not trust in the detective work of later generations, but tells the reader explicitly that his name is in the capital letters of the text.St John Hope, W. (1883) Chronicle of the Abbey of St Mary de Parco Stanley, or Dale, Derbyshire, p. 16.
Muskham attributes the first part of the foundation legend to Matilda de Salicosa Mara of Lindsey, a local landowner whom he regarded as foundress of the community at Dale.St John Hope, W. (1883) Chronicle of the Abbey of St Mary de Parco Stanley, or Dale, Derbyshire, p. 17. Muskham's chronicle places the origins of the abbey early in the previous century and credits the initiative to a local baker who experienced a vision of The Blessed Virgin MarySt John Hope, W. (1883) Chronicle of the Abbey of St Mary de Parco Stanley, or Dale, Derbyshire, p. 5. and Saltman, A. (1967) The History Of The Foundation Of Dale Abbey Or The So-called Chronicle Of Dale, p. 25. telling him to go to Depedale.St John Hope, W. (1883) Chronicle of the Abbey of St Mary de Parco Stanley, or Dale, Derbyshire, p. 18., adapted. Depedale, in the modern form Deepdale, was long used for the environs of the village of Dale Abbey and is still found in street names locally. The baker kept the religious experience secret but immediately set off eastward. Passing through the village of Stanley, he overheard a woman dispatching her daughter to Deepdale with a herd of calves. The former baker took this as a sign from God and asked the woman the way. He was told to follow the girl to Deepdale and so quickly arrived at his destination, described as locum palustrem valde terribilem longeque ab omni habitacione hominum separatumSaltman, A. (1967) The History Of The Foundation Of Dale Abbey Or The So-called Chronicle Of Dale, p. 26. — "a marshy place, extremely frightening, and far from human habitation." At the south east edge of the place he cut out a small rock house in the hillside and settled to an ascetic existence. A local landowner is named as Ralph Fitz Geremund, lord of a moiety of the manors of Ockbrook and Alvaston cum soc, i.e., holder of soke, the right and duty to constitute a court. He is portrayed by the chronicle as a Norman baron with interests on both sides of the Channel.St John Hope, W. (1883) Chronicle of the Abbey of St Mary de Parco Stanley, or Dale, Derbyshire, p. 19. He was so impressed by the hermit and the wretchedness of his existence that he granted him a tithe of the proceeds of his own mill at Burgh (now thought to be at Alvaston, although earlier at Borrowash).Chronicle of the Abbey of St Mary de Parco Stanley, or Dale, Derbyshire, p. 29, note 6. Saltman, A. (1967) The Cartulary of Dale Abbey, p. 2 asserts it was in Alvaston. The remainder of the hermit's story is attributed to one Humfrid, a former canon. The hermit suffered spiritual torment in his later years, said by the chronicler to be the assaults of antiquus autem generis humani inimicus milleartifexChronicle of the Abbey of St Mary de Parco Stanley, or Dale, Derbyshire, p. 6. and Saltman, A. (1967) The History Of The Foundation Of Dale Abbey Or The So-called Chronicle Of Dale, p. 27. – "the ancient enemy of human kind, master of a thousand tricks," that is, Satan. To gain relief from these assaults, and from the lack of water at his hermitage, he searched for a new home.Chronicle of the Abbey of St Mary de Parco Stanley, or Dale, Derbyshire, p. 20. By a spring in the little valley below he built a hut for himself and an oratory, dedicated to God and to the Blessed Mary, who seems to have been central to his spiritual life. There he lived in God's service until his death, which is described by the chronicler in almost Manichaean terms as release from the ergastulum, prison, of the body.Chronicle of the Abbey of St Mary de Parco Stanley, or Dale, Derbyshire, p. 7. and Saltman, A. (1967) The History Of The Foundation Of Dale Abbey Or The So-called Chronicle Of Dale, p. 27.
Thomas Muskham, the chronicler, then switches to an entirely different story, this time concerning the vision of a man he tells us was called Uthlagus and who was in the vicinity of Deepdale because of the regular traffic between Nottingham and Derby through the forest that stretched from the River Derwent bridge at Derby to the Erewash. Although Thomas does not tell us so explicitly, Uthlagus is not a name but a Latinised form of Old English utlaga, the modern English "outlaw." So presumably this man was a highway robber and when Thomas describes him as famosissimusChronicle of the Abbey of St Mary de Parco Stanley, or Dale, Derbyshire, p. 7. it is in the sense of "extremely notorious," not "most renowned," as the translator has it: possibly the chronicler's ambiguity is deliberate. The outlaw fell asleep one summer day on Lindridge, the hill to the west of the later abbey site, and had a dream in which the future glory of the place was revealed to him. After revealing and explaining his dream vision, Uthlagus announced that it meant he could no longer keep company with his band. He took his leave and was not seen again, although it was rumoured he had become a hermit at Deepdale.
Muskham's account of the origins of religious life at Deepdale is marked by free use of legend, although key features of his account were probably plausible to his readers. It was not improbable that the area was plagued by banditry during the Anarchy of Stephen's reign, when at least some of his account is possibly set. A number of important new monasteries and even monastic orders of the early 12th century were credited to the work of individual hermits. A close parallel is Arrouaise Abbey in northern France, which its historians portrayed as appearing in bandit countryGosse, A-A-J. (1783) Histoire de l'Abbaye et de l'Ancienne Congrégation des Chanoines Réguliers d'Arrouaise, pp 8–9. and inspired by the work of a hermit called Roger.Gosse, A-A-J. (1783) Histoire de l'Abbaye et de l'Ancienne Congrégation des Chanoines Réguliers d'Arrouaise, p. 11. The Deepdale foundation and the Arrouaisians alike were secured a role in the Church by assimilation into an order of canons regular following the Rule of St. Augustine.
False starts
Grendon family
Thomas Muskham's account of the attempts to plant a cell of canons at Deepdale is very different from the foundation legends, outlining a process of trial and error by which members of a local landed gentry family, or group of families, sought to establish and consolidate a religious house at Deepdale. See especially note 2. While he never gives actual dates, he does give enough information about contemporaries to locate events fairly closely in the history of 12th-century England.
The chronicle focusses on Serlo de Grendon, giving a detailed account of his family connections. Serlo enters the story because he married Margery, the daughter of Ralph de Geremund, the benefactor of the Deepdale hermit. The chronicler tells us that Serlo received a moiety of Ockbrook as Margery's dowry. He mentions that, although Serlo had several sons, his co-heirs ultimately were his three daughters, Johanna, Isolda and Agatha. They are also recorded in 1219 as involved in a suit over dower relating to Whittington, a manor within Grendon in Warwickshire. Note anchor 53. This account in VCH conflates father and son, both called Serlo. Julian was the widow of Serlo de Grendon II, and the three heiresses her sisters-in-law. The overlordship of both WhittingtonSalzman, L. F. (ed) Grendon, note anchor 57. and GrendonSalzman, L. F. (ed) Grendon, note anchor 9. manors was held by the Ferrers family, with mesne lordship held by the Camville family, to whom the Grendons rendered their feudal dues. Serlo is not part of the succession given for the main manor of Grendon, so it seems that he belonged to a junior branch of the family that held Whittington, an estate in Grendon that became a separate manor. Serlo is styled by Muskham "lord of Bradley," a Derbyshire manor which had also the Ferrers family as Tenants-in-chief since the time of William the Conqueror. In the mid-12th century the head of the Ferrers family was Robert de Ferrers, 2nd Earl of Derby, whose wide political and ecclesiastical interests must have borne considerable weight for Serlo de Grendon.
Muskham tells us that Serlo de Grendon was particularly attached to an aunt who was also his godmother: as with a number of other figures linked to the foundation of Dale Abbey, her name is not given.Chronicle of the Abbey of St Mary de Parco Stanley, or Dale, Derbyshire, p. 22. Serlo made a lifetime grant of Deepdale to her and she thus became known as the Gomme or godmother of the Dale. She had a house constructed on part of what later became the abbey site and installed her own son, Richard, as chaplain, presumably in or on the site of the hermit's oratory.
Calke cell On the Gomme's request, Serlo de Grendon granted Deepdale to the Augustinian community of Calke Priory and Richard the chaplain entered the Augustinian order to join them. Calke had done well from the wealth of Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester, powerful in Warwickshire and Leicestershire, who had found the Anarchy of Stephen's reign particularly lucrative. After his death in 1153, his widow Maud had assured the survival and future prosperity of the Calke community by granting them the church at Repton and other property on the express condition that they move their headquarters and establish a new priory at Repton at the first suitable opportunity. Note anchor 8. Although this was not to happen until 1172,Page, W. (ed.) (1907) The Priory of Repton, with the cell of Calke, note anchor 15. the canons seem to have been prepared for colonisation. Robert de Ferrers, Serlo de Grendon's overlord, was another important benefactor of Calke,Page, W. (ed.) (1907) The Priory of Repton, with the cell of Calke, note anchor 13. and the desire to remain on good terms with such a powerful figure may have played some part in the choice of that particular priory.