Syon Abbey

Syon Abbey, (or Sion Abbey) was a major mediæval monastery of the Bridgettine Order, its major site bordering Brentford and Isleworth, Middlesex, England. Syon House, seat of the Duke of Northumberland, partly overlies the site, which was identified as lying between Syon House and the River Thames. The abbey's remains were partially uncovered in excavations starting in 2003.

Related Topics:
Mediæval - Monastery - Bridgettine Order - Brentford - Isleworth - Middlesex - England - Syon House - Duke of Northumberland - River Thames

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A double monastery of men and women, under an abbess, Syon Abbey was founded in 1414 or 1415 at Twickenham Park, London by King Henry V of England. It was built in his 'manor of Isleworth Syon', located on the Middlesex bank of the River Thames opposite the royal palace in Richmond, on the boundary of the parish of Twickenham, near where Twickenham bridge crosses the river today. Under royal patronage, the Abbey grew quickly, relocating in 1431 and soon extending half a mile along the north bank of the Thames, near Brentford, using buildings constructed for a Celestine order, but never occupied, sited at Syon House. The chief duty of the community was to pray for the souls of the royal founder and for all the faithful departed. However the abbey also became a centre of preaching and scholarship with one of the major libraries of England.

Related Topics:
1414 - 1415 - Twickenham Park - London - Henry V of England - 1431 - Brentford - Syon House

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The Abbess governed the Order; while a Confessor-General, elected by the brothers, controlled the spiritual direction. The Sisters had their own convent on one side of the shared, double-aisled church, with the accommodation for the Brothers on the other side.

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During the Reformation St Richard Reynolds and other brothers were hung, drawn and quartered for their opposition to King Henry VIII. The abbey was destroyed by the King in 1539 during the dissolution of the monasteries, and the community expelled. A long-standing legend states that King Henry VIII´s coffin, lying in the ruined chapel at Syon on its way to Windsor for burial, burst open during the night and in the morning dogs were found licking up the remains. This was regarded as divine judgement for his desecration of the abbey.

Related Topics:
Reformation - St Richard Reynolds - Henry VIII - 1539 - Dissolution of the monasteries - Windsor

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After dissolution, the estate came into the possession of the 1st Duke of Somerset, Lord Protector to young Edward VI. Between 1547 and his death by execution in 1552, the Duke built Syon House in the Italian Renaissance style, over the foundations of the west end of the huge abbey church. The square house seen today is hollow in the middle, as it was built around the convent's cloister garden.

Related Topics:
Duke of Somerset - Lord Protector - Edward VI

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The community was re-established at Syon in 1557, under Queen Mary I, but were driven into exile again under Elizabeth I, and the manor given to Henry Percy, 8th Earl of Northumberland, and the freehold to his heir.

Related Topics:
1557 - Mary I - Elizabeth I - Henry Percy, 8th Earl of Northumberland

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The expelled community moved from place to place in France and Spain, until they finally settled in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1594. The Lisbon community returned to England in 1861, settling first in Spetisbury, Dorset, in 1887 in Chudleigh, Devon and then in 1925 to its current location near to South Brent, Devon. As such, the Abbey of Syon has the distinction of being the only English monastic community that survived the reformation in an unbroken lineage to the present day.

Related Topics:
France - Spain - Lisbon - Portugal - 1594 - 1861 - Spetisbury - Dorset - 1887 - Chudleigh - Devon - 1925 - South Brent

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In 2004, the remaining mediæval books in the Abbey's collection were deposited for safe-keeping with the University of Exeter Library.

Related Topics:
2004 - University of Exeter

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