THE history of Beauchief Abbey has been
enshrined in a new publication.
From about 1400 the canons of the abbey
made copies of all their charters and bound them together in a volume that is
now kept at Sheffield Archives.
Now the 225 charters have been transcribed,
translated and annotated by Professors David Hey and David Luscombe of the
University of Sheffield and Lisa Liddy of the University of York and published
as A Monastic Community in Local Society: The Beauchief Abbey Cartulary by the
Royal Historical Society.
The publication was presented to Lord
Mayor Coun Sylvia Dunkley, a former colleague at Sheffield University, at the
town hall on Monday.
The abbey has had a lasting influence on
the city. Beauchief was ‘the beautiful headland’ above the River Sheaf,
the valley gave its name to Abbeydale and the abbey’s corn mill is
commemorated by Millhouses. Ladies Spring Wood belonged to the abbey,
stretching as far as Twentywell Lane.
The charters show that the canons had a
deer park, fish ponds and a tannery close to the building. On the River Sheaf
they built the Bradway corn mill, the Ecclesall Walk Mill and the corn mill at
Millhouses. They also had a smithy which has given its name to Smithy Wood and
they made charcoal in Hutcliffe Wood.
The tower of Beauchief Abbey is one of
Sheffield’s most striking historic landmarks, viewed by motorists from
Abbey Lane, by ramblers on the Round Walk and golfers on the Beauchief and
Abbeydale courses.
It has recently been restored by English
Heritage and its lower part is still used as a church that was created from the
ruins in the 1660s. The abbey was dissolved in 1537.
From: http://www.sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk/news/new_reminder_of_an_old_abbey_1_4205821
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