WILTSHIRE MAGAZINE, 
‘¢MULTORUM MANIBUS GRANDE LEVATUR ONUS.”—Ovid. 
















: COLLECTIONS TOWARDS THE 
History of the Cistercian Abbey of Stanley, 
an Wiltshire, 
TEXTS OF A CALENDAR OF THE MUNIMENTS, AND OF SOME UNPUBLISHED 
CHARTERS OF THE ABBEY, PRESERVED IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 
By W. de G. Biren, F.R.S.L. 
gHE Cistercian Abbey. of Stanley, in Wiltshire, is perhaps as 
> little known as any of that interesting Order. It is not 
my intention to write the history of the House, for that work has 
been already performed, in a fairly satisfactory manner, by the Rev. 
_ W. L. Bowles, in his “ Parochial History of Bremhill in the county 
- of Wilts,” London, 1828. The editors of the new edition of Sir 
_ William Dugdale’s “ Monasticon Anglicanum ” have drawn their 
account of the abbey principally from this work; and, in all 
_ probability, the amount of literary information respecting the 
_ monastery would never have received any very extensive additions, 
_ if an accidental discovery of a very important nature had not enabled 
iq me to identify a manuscript, among the untold treasures of the 
7 British Museum, with the fortunes of Stanley Abbey. This manu- 
seript, of which I shall presently give a detailed description and 
_ transcript, forms the bulk of my paper, which I here offer to the 
| Wiltshire Archeological Society for publication, for I feel sure that 
that body i is fully aware of the great importance of printing original 
_ documents bearing so directly upon the medieval archzology of the 
ia ‘county, and of the increasing necessity of putting on record everything 
_ we can find to throw a light, however faint, upon the monastic age, 
VOL. XV.—NO. XLV. Y 

