| Burton-on-trent Abbey |
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HISTORY Burton Abbey was mentioned in the Domesday Book when it was said to control lands in Mickleover , Appleby Magna in Leicestershire, Winshill and Stapenhill in Staffordshire, Coton In The Elms , Caldwell and Ticknall ''Domesday Book: A Complete Transliteration''. London: Penguin, 2003. ISBN 0-14-143994-7 p.744. The abbey itself was neither large nor wealthy and in 1310 was claimed to be the smallest and poorest Benedictine monastery in England by the monks. It suffered frequent financial troubles throughout its existence, often due to mismanagement and outright criminal behaviour, though the situation seems to have been resolved by the 16th century. In the 13th to 14th centuries there were around thirty monks in residence though this had fallen off to almost half the number by the 1520s. However, by contradiction, the monastery was nevertheless the most important in Staffordshire and by the 1530's had the highest revenue. The abbot was both a secular lord and, "exercised an independent spiritual jurisdiction. He was a figure of some standing, regularly serving on papal and royal commissions and acting as a collector of clerical taxes within the diocese." At various times between 1295 and 1322, the abbot was summoned to attend the Parliament Of England , and again in 1532. It is also known that there were frequent Royal visits to the abbey, including those by William I , Henry II and Edward I . DISSOLUTION AND BEYOND The abbey was dissolved in 1539, to be refounded in 1541 as a college for a Dean (who had been the last abbot) and four Prebendaries . It was again dissolved in 1545 and granted to Sir William Paget. Parts of the abbey church may have been retained for parish use, however these were demolished and replaced by a new church in 1719-26. Little of the rest remains either. Sections of the former Infirmary are now incorporated into an Inn and some fragments remain of the chapter house nearby. REFERENCES
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