Abbey History; Episode Zero (Bondig to Bisham)

In the Shadow of the Abbey

The Abbots curse, Margaret’s dovecote, the spring bird, the Brinkhurst brasses. Why Anne of Cleves did not want to live at Bisham and Sir Philip Hobbye did.

Bisham Abbey is well known as a National Sports Centre ; however its historical importance is more impressive. It was originally part of the Bisham Estate which was dismantled in 1965. This included the Abbey, the village and land situated around a shallow crossing point on the River Thames; now known as Bondig’s Bank, named after the Saxon lord who owned the land.

In the Domesday Book of 1086, this area was recorded as Bisteham, owned by Henry de Ferrars. The building known as Bisham Abbey became a fortified monastery, and by 1260, was a base of the powerful Knights Templar who built the Abbey. In the 1300s King Edward II granted Bisham to the powerful Montacute family, the Earls of Salisbury. They established the priory of Austin Canons in 1337. This family was to remain at Bisham for around 200 years. They were wealthy, and very influential, owning significant lands and the right to levy tolls for the repair of Marlow Bridge.

There is a spring, which folk legend suggested was holy and had miraculous properties which could cure blindness. Pilgrims came from far afield to take its waters and to pet the tame bird that lived there. The wealthiest and most powerful English peer of the time (mid 1400s) was a Salisbury, Richard Neville, also known as Warwick the Kingmaker, is buried at Bisham, although the exact location is not known. Henry Viii often hunted in the local woods to escape “the small-pox and measles but also the great sickness” (the plague) and Margaret, Countess of Salisbury was a good friend of Catherine of Aragon (Henrys first wife). Margaret was responsible for building the circular dovecote with the revolving ladder which still stands today at Bisham. (anon, n.d.) After the break with Rome and the change to Protestantism, Margaret remained a staunch catholic, King Henry executed her son in 1538 and she was sent to the Tower, where two years later, in May 1541 she too was executed, refusing to kneel as a true Plantagenet (anon, n.d.). She was honoured by the Roman Catholic Church, Blessed Margaret Salisbury – the Saint of Bisham.
Henry intended Bisham to be a place for prayers to be said for the soul of his late, loved Queen, Jane Seymour, who died in 1537. Thomas Cromwell, Henry’s first minister, closed Bisham Priory six months later on June 19th 1538. The last Abbot, John Cordery, set a curse on the property which was to hang over future owners. "As God is my witness, this property shall ne’er be inherited by two direct successors, for its sons will be hounded by misfortune" Listen to more of the abbey history episodes to find out what happened to the succession.
Henry gave Bisham (including Temple Mills) to his fourth wife Anne of Cleves as part of her divorce settlement in 1540. However she petitioned him to allow her to swap it for a rural, religious property in Suffolk (Westhorpe) that had been surrendered to Henry but granted to Sir Philip Hobbye, a trusted courtier.
John Brinkhurst of Temple Mill endowed the almshouses in Oxford Road, Marlow with places for 2 Bisham widows of good character who had lived in the parish for at least 5 years. The brasses in Bisham Church commemorate him and his wives.
The transfer of Bisham was finally completed in 1554, Edward VI’s reign, and Sir Philip Hoby (Hobbye) took possession of an estate that was to remain in his family until 1780.
Episode researched, written and narrated by Sheila Featherstone-Clark based on articles in the Berkshire archives.
Image is the Dovecote and Bisham Abbey taken by Geoff Griffiths