In 1242, Richard, the Earl of Cornwall and second son of King John, used his faith to survive a huge sea storm, after which he pledged to repay God for saving him. He vowed to found a monastery and three years later his brother, Henry III, granted him the Manor of Hailes. Richard spared no expense building an Abbey here, spending an astronomical £6,600.
It was Richard’s visit to Royaumont Abbey near Paris which inspired his decision that his own new monastery should belong to the Cistercian order. The first monks to inhabit Hailes Abbey came from his father’s foundation at Beaulieu Abbey in Hampshire.
Consecrated in November 1251, the monastery’s church became the favoured location for Richard’s family members to be buried. The Cistercian order was regarded to be the “surest road to Heaven” and burials within a Cistercian church were believed to ease the passage of the soul through purgatory to eternal rest in Heaven. Richard, three of his sons and his second wife were all buried in the Abbey’s church.
In 1270, Richard’s son, Edward, presented the monks with a phial that was said to contain blood shed by Christ on the cross. The East end of the church was rebuilt so the relic could be displayed behind the High Altar. The relic, known as “the Holy Blood of Hailes”, turned the Abbey into one of the most important pilgrimage destinations in Medieval England.
In the 1300s, Edward’s death left the abbey without a financial benefactor and it soon ran into financial problems. The buildings badly needed maintaining. The Black Death swept in in 1348 and again in 1361, killing most of the monks. In 1402, thieves broke in and stole riches worth over £600. The abbey was also being poorly administered. The buildings were falling into ruin and debts greatly outweighed any income.
The papacy stepped in and granted special spiritual privileges and generous remissions from penances to pilgrims who made monetary gifts to the abbey. These gifts were used to repair the church, abbey and accommodations. This was followed by a period of prosperity for the abbey and in the early 16th century, Hailes had investments from individuals at the very top of Tudor society.
However, Henry VIII’s henchmen had Hailes in their sights. In 1538 the relic was denounced as a fake and destroyed. It had been tested and the “blood” was found to be honey that had been coloured with saffron. On Christmas Eve, 1539, the Abbot signed the surrender deed and the monastery was dissolved.
In the 1600s Hailes became a grand country residence, but by the early 18th century the site was left to fall ruinous.
By the mid 19th century, the ruins were attracting visitors.
It was excavated between 1899 and 1908.
In 1927 it was visited by Sir James Fowler, the resident Warden at Beaulieu Abbey, where the original monks had come from. Appalled at the state of the former monastery, he built the museum and encouraged visitors to contribute towards the upkeep of the site.
Hailes Abbey was such an important site. For almost three centuries it was the centre of monastic life and an important place of pilgrimage. Today, its tranquil ruins provide a quiet place to relax and is a popular picnic destination.
Hailes Church | a medieval marvel
There has been a church here at Hailes since at least the 1100s. The Abbey which sits opposite was founded in 1246. This church predates it by at least a century. Records suggest that it was built sometime between 1139 and 1151, during the reign of King Stephen.
There are traces of Norman architecture throughout the church in the walls, the windows and the roof.
There are also painted figures of St Catherine of Alexandria and St Margaret of Antioch on either side of the Altar.
The paintings on the walls are of exceptional quality and are thought to have been painted after the nearby Abbey was built. It’s extraordinary that these paintings weren’t destroyed during Henry VIII’s dissolutions, having been saved by quick thinking priests who overpainted them with a whitewash to preserve them.
The freeze along the roofline is much faded but is thought to depict the Apostles.
Elsewhere are figures such as unicorns, griffons and dragons. There are also plenty of floral and fauna imagery and hunting scenes too.
The font is authentic to the time when the church was built. It is made from Cotswold stone and has eight sides.
The pews were in-situ prior to the Reformation except the box pew which probably dates nearer to the time the church was built.
The tiles on the floor are the remains of heraldic tiles laid ad-hoc and in no particular order. They are thought to have come from the nearby Abbey.
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30 июн 2024
