CROXDEN ABBEY : ITS HISTORY AND 

 ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES. 



BY CHARLES LYNAM. 



I PURPOSE first to give a slight sketch of the history 

 of the Abbey, and secondly, to describe its architectural 

 features. The sources whence my information is received, 

 are, a copy of the Annals of the Abbey, mostly kept by 

 a monk of the house named William de Schepished, and 

 given me by Mr. Garner ; the Journal of the British 

 Archa3ological Association for December, 1865 ; and the 

 buildings themselves, as they have been known to me for 

 many years past, as they now exist. 



Croxden is one of the later Cistercian abbeys of England, 

 and was founded from the Norman Monastery of Alnet 

 or Aulney, near Bayeux, in Normandy. The Annals of 

 William de Schepished and their continuation extend from 

 William the Conqueror to the year 1174. Like all the 

 monastic annals, the contents are very miscellaneous, but 

 in this instance they may be roughly classified as follows : 



1st Events concerning the Kings of England and the 

 royal family, and narratives relating to wars both at home 

 and abroad. 2nd Dates of taxes imposed on the laity 

 and the church, and regulations respecting the coinage. 

 3rd The succession of the Bishops of Lichfield and Coventry 

 down to 1322 ; an imperfect series of the Archbishops of 



