Drive and Stroll, with Ron Freethy

A LETTER in this week's postbag got me thinking. It was from Ralph Whitaker, of Orchard Street, Great Harwood, who writes:

"I ENJOY reading your articles in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph but from time to time you mention the dismantling of abbeys during the reign of Henry VIII.

From what I have read on the subject, the abbeys were confiscated from the religious orders and given to local landed gentry who were supporters of the king.

After the death of Henry VIII, his daughter Mary ascended the throne and announced her intention to restore the monasteries to the religious orders.

This triggered a mass destruction of abbeys by the new owners to make it impossible for the monks to return."

WHILE Ralph's observations are of interest, the facts do not stand up to close observation, especially in the North of England.

At Sawley and Whalley this certainly did not happen.

Henry VIII was ruthless in his destruction of abbeys, giving control to his minister Thomas Cromwell (no relation to Oliver, who lived around a century later), he demolished all the abbey churches.

Henry was always strapped for cash and he did not give the local gentry anything.

On the king's orders, abbeys were demolished, their timbers sold and the lead on the roofs melted down.

The communion vessels were melted down and the stained glass smashed.

Once this had been done, Henry offered the lands for sale and it was the local gentry who could afford to pay the going rate.

Henry's daughter Mary did try to restore the Catholic religion but she had not gone very far in this before she died.

She was succeeded by Elizabeth, who was as fierce a Protestant as her father. Henry's treatment of Whalley and Sawley abbeys was much harsher than for many others.

Both these houses were Cistercian and the abbots were involved in a rebellion to prevent the dissolution of the abbeys.

The Northern-based revolt in 1536 was supported by De Trafford, abbot of Sawley, and Paslew, abbot of Whalley.

Henry's reaction was predictable.

The two abbeys were destroyed and the abbots were executed.

The local landowners bought ruins and there was no way that the money could have been found to restore the abbeys unless the Cistercians were brought back from France or Rome and paid for it themselves.

Mary could never have done this.

Whalley was the larger and most important abbey and there are reminders of its greatness to be seen in the Conference Centre and also in some furniture which was taken to the parish church at Whalley.

Some items can also be seen at St John's Church, in Cliviger. The real extent of Whalley Abbey can be seen from the air, where the few remains and the shape of the once huge church can be seen laid out like a map.

A footpath runs around the grounds and there is also a plan of the buildings.

Much less remains of Sawley but it is still one of the most haunting ruins to be seen in England.

More than 450 years on we can still realise the great anger of Henry VIII and the vengeance which he poured on the heads of the rebellious monks.

We are indeed fortunate to be able to walk through history so close to home.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.