Monument record 368/1 - Catesby Abbey

Cistercian nunnery founded in 1175 with evidence that it was founded as a Benedictine house. Dissolved 1536. Associated earthworks of leat and ponds. 16th Century house demolished in 1863. Formal gardens include sunken garden surviving as earthworks.

{1} John Onley bought the small Cistercian nunnery of Catesby in 1537 after its dissolution. He was succeeded by his son Edward (1532-82), who presumably converted the monastic buildings into a house in the mid 16th century after coming of age, for in his will he left to his wife the best bed in the Great Chamber in the ‘newbuilding’. He was sheriff in 1574.
Catesby remained in the Onley family until 1664 when it was purchased by John Parkhurst. After 1680 he turned his attention to Northamptonshire, serving as MP for the county and then for Brackley, and presumably it was in this period that the house was remodelled.
Catesby was repaired in 1844 when the heir, George Parkhurst Baxter, came of age. The estate was offered for sale only three years later when it was purchased by James Attenborough.

{3} SP 515 595. Little is known of the history of the Cistercian priory. In 1229 the King granted wood from Silverstone for the construction of the priory church. After the dissolution in 1536 the Onley family held the land until the early 17th century when it passed to the Parkhursts. 16th century house built possibly around the original cloister. The west front was rebuilt c1700. Formal gardens lay to the east. House finally demolished 1863. Earthworks suggest a Medieval leat west of the present church, formerly described as a moat, and probably Medieval ponds. Post-Medieval remains include sunken gardens 1.5m deep and further ponds.

{7} The site of the Priory and its lands were sold to John Onley in 1537, whose family held it until the early C17 when it passed to the Parkhursts. The Onleys built a large mansion house on the site, incorporating elements of the Priory buildings and laid out pleasure gardens around and to the east of the house. An estate map of 1638 (2003, Fig.5) indicates the position of the Onley mansion (possibly known as Catesby Abbey from this time) on the position of the Priory, with a central courtyard and gardens further to the east. The Priory fish ponds to the north and south-east are present, and the southern boundary of the immediate grounds were formed by an irregular channel with two buildings on its course. Giggins and Laughton suggest that these buildings, located near to a section of watercourse described as ‘millbanck’, were one of the two water mills, linked to the ‘old pond’ on the east side of Hellidon Road (now backfilled). Bridges, in his History of Northamptonshire of 1791, records that an engraving of the house in c 1720 suggests that it was arranged around a central courtyard, perhaps the original cloister of the Priory, but that in 1700 the main west elevation
was remodelled and given projecting wings. Eyre’s map of 1791 shows a formal garden to the east of the
house with rectangular ponds and intersecting footpaths. The estate map of 1801 by Cullingworth shows a wooded park segmented by walks to the east, adjacent to the Hellidon Road, with an apparently enlarged Catesby Abbey at the centre comprising three wings around a courtyard open to the north. The south range of the house incorporated medieval fabric, thought to be the kitchen and vaulted cellar beneath it and a probable medieval window. An illustration of 1859 by Sir Henry Dryden shows a section of C14 wall aligned east-west with blind, ornate arcading, a doorway, piscina and possibly a window incorporated into the east wing. It has been interpreted as part of the Priory (Nun’s) Church, probably located between the Church choir and sacristy in the east range of the cloister garth. The church is known to have had a tower, presumably at the west end, and it is likely that the cloister was located to the south of the church and the refectory opposite the church on the south side. This putative plan accords with the location of the south range of Catesby Abbey with its illustrated kitchen cellars and medieval window. Standard monastic plans would place the chapter on the east side of the cloister and the Prioress’s Hall on the west. Laughton suggests that the kitchen and bakehouse were located in the south-west of the cloister as the accounts suggest that both were sited close to the mill.
Elements of the Priory thought to have been included in the Onley mansion include medieval undercrofts and the kitchen range.

{8} (SP 51565953) Site of St Mary and St Edmund's Priory (LB) (Cistercian, founded circa AD 1175) (SP514596) Moat (LB) (SP517597)
(SP517595) Fishpond (LB). (SP526594) St Mary's Church (LB) (Remains of).

{9} The priory of St Mary and St Edmund was founded circa 1175 for Cistercian nuns although there seems to be some evidence that it was originally Benedictine. It was definitely Cistercian in the 13th century. Dissolved 1536.

{9-12} A Cistercian house of ten nuns was set up at Catesby c.1175, endowed with the church of the Blessed Mary, a chapel at Hellidon, grounds in tillage, lands, tenements, meadows and pastures. Until 1310 there were lay brothers under a master attached to the priory. In 1536 the priory was dissolved, and all the property was granted to the Onley family. The parish church at Upper Catesby was destroyed at this time, and a new church was built on the priory site. All buildings here were destroyed 1861-2. In 1963 the earthworks of the village were in poor condition.

{13} Apart from the moat, little is visible in the way of earthworks.

{14} Very meagre remains. An earth covered heap of rubble around a small portion of still standing wall. An arch or doorway from it is probably built into a cottage in Catesby

{15} An extensive series of fishponds and a defensive moat on the western perimeter are adjacent to the published site of this priory. No extant remains, or foundation lines of the House can now be traced. There are no surveyable remains. The "still standing wall" noted (and photographed) by Wardale in February 1959 has now collapsed into a large amorphous mound. See photograph. Also the doorway is extant, this is 15c work and as suggested probably came from the early church.
See annotated 25" survey of fishponds and moat.

{16} No change to field report of 15.5.70. Survey transferred to 1:2500 MSD

<1> Heward J.; Taylor R., 1996, The Country Houses of Northamptonshire, p.139-140 (checked) (Book). SNN41757.

<2> Bridges J., 1791, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p.27 (unchecked) (Book). SNN77325.

<3> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1981, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.38-40 site 4 (checked) (Series). SNN77381.

<4> Bailey B.A., 1996, Northamptonshire in the Early Eighteenth Century: The Drawings of Peter Tillemans & Others, (unchecked) (Series). SNN41766.

<5> Laughton J., 2001, Catesby in The Middle Ages: an Interdisciplinary Study, p.7-32 (unchecked) (Article). SNN102519.

<6> Giggins B.L.; Launghton J., 2003, Catesby: an Interdisciplinary Study, Part II, p.35-55 (unchecked) (Article). SNN109362.

<7> Historic England, 2015, Designation Assessment: Medieval settlement at Lower Catesby, P. 9 (Designation Advice Report). SNN110113.

<8> Ordnance Survey, 1955, 1950s/60s Ordnance Survey 6 Inch Mapping Series (SP44NE), 1955 (Map). SNN61128.

<9> Knowles; Hadcock, 1971, Medieval Religious Houses England and Wales, P. 222, 272-3 (Book). SNN10192.

<10> Baker G., 1830, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, P. 277 (Book). SNN77327.

<11> Allison K.J.; Beresford M.W.; Hurst J.G. et al, 1966, The Deserted Villages of Northamptonshire, P. 37 (Report). SNN39628.

<12> James, T., 1864, On Catesby Priory, P. 256 (Article). SNN10228.

<13> Royal Air Force, Vertical Aerial Photography, 541-177, 3066,7, 4067, 30.8.48 (Photographs). SNN104890.

<14> Cyril Francis Wardale, 1959, Field investigators comments, 21-FEB-59 (Notes). SNN116313.

<15> Baird, J., 1970, Field investigators comments, 15-MAY-70 (Notes). SNN110341.

<16> Allanson, C D, 1976, Field Investigator's Comments, 20-OCT-76 (Notes). SNN112955.

Record last edited

Feb 10 2025 7:54PM