Monument record LCS 002 - Site of first Leiston Abbey

Site of the first Premonstratensian abbey founded by Glanville in 1182 and moved to present site, LCS 001, in 1363. About 2 miles away from later site on a slight rise in the marshland a few hundred yards from the sea. In the middle of the field stand ruins of small rectangular building, roughly built of various local materials (with World War 2 structure in its E end), which appears from APs to lie on the S side of the cloister. The photos show the plan of claustral and outlying buildings beneath the soil (S1). 1981: Masonry on ruin in reasonable condition, weed free, but weeds, scrub growing up around base both exterior and interior. Large elder branches eroding bricks from top of wall. Surrounding fields wheat & barley. Tile, bone and oyster noted in ploughsoil to N (S1).
Later cell?
Base of Rhenish frilly based tyg, C16, brown and buff salt-glaze. Ploughed up on Chapel Field, Lower Abbey Farm. Given by owner G A Rope to Ipswich Museum (S2).
Chapel probably that of John Greene (1531) who `became consecrated hermit after resigning as Abbot of new Leiston Abbey. Lived at Chapel of St Mary in the old monastery' (S3).
1991: Said to be falling. A brick and concrete pill box was built inside in the last war. Access across a ploughed field (S4).
1995: Fieldwalking identified three dense scatters of pottery (late twelth century to fourteenth century) with the one around the chapel also containing peg-tile and ashlar blocks, see details (S10).
January 1996: Scheduled area revised to include further area to NW and exclude area on S side (S1)(S5).
The site of the first Premonstratensian abbey at Leiston is visible as cropmarks and parchmarks on aerial photographs, centred on circa TM47256601 (S6-7). An incomplete plan of the church and claustral range can be seen centred roughly on circa TM47346598. The removal of much of the masonry in or around 1363 probably resulted in the creation of 'robber-trenches' which are visible as cropmarks. These can be seen outlining part of the church and conventual buildings, and possibly marking the previous location of pier bases in what might have been the dormitory range at circa TM47336603. However, a number of the visible parchmarks are probably due to in-situ masonry, for example as at circa TM47306603. This is possibly the location of the refectory or kitchen range. Compacted flooring, possibly of mortar, probably accounts for the large areas of parching that appears to differentiate the internal areas of some of the probable structures across the site. However, to the east of the area it is less easy to distinguish this from natural parching due to changes in surface geology. In the east, centred on about TM47406604, it is possible to see further probable robber trenches as cropmarks. These may represent the location of a further range of buildings, possibly an infirmary complex or guest accommodation. Towards the west of the area fishponds and a number of drainage or water management channels can be seen as cropmarks. The largest and most obvious fishpond, circa 85m long and 15m wide, is centred on circa TM47246605. A smaller pond or reservoir may be located at circa TM47156599. Substantial drainage channels cross the site connecting the ponds to the surrounding water management systems. This would have been essential in an area prone to flooding. Ultimately it was the risk of repeated flooding that prompted the relocation of the site in the 14th century. Cropmarks of a probable later track or drainage system can be seen centred on circa TM47196599, running from circa TM47076598 in the west to circa TM47256601 in the east. This feature may continue eastwards across the site of the Abbey, but as with many of the features relating to the Abbey complex itself, it is not possible to be more certain of the details from the limited photographs available to the survey. It is possible that ploughing has damaged the remains. It is also probable that a number of the cropmarks that are visible on the photographs, but that have not been mapped, are a result of modern drainage.

Circa 2005: geophysical survey - details details in 2008 report (S9).

2008: As part of a grant aided programme of consolidation works to the building known as Minsmere Chapel, English Heritage required archaeological recording and interpretation to be undertaken. Aerial photographs and geophysical survey (S9) suggest that the building was constructed within the body of the original abbey church that itself lay immediately south of a cloister. Three main phases of construction were recognised. The first, represented by the lower sections of the standing walls, had evidence surviving for three contemporary windows, a doorway and an enigmatic internal niche. This initial phase was thought to date to soon after the abandonment of the abbey in 1363. The second phase was represented by the upper sections of the wall with their characteristic use of brick and evidence two additional windows and the blocking of the Phase II windows. This phase has tentatively been associated with John Green who when he retired as Abbot of the abbey at the new site in 1527 lived out his years as a hermit at the chapel. The third phase involved the insertion of a World War II pillbox into the eastern end of the structure and utilised the existing architectural openings (S8).

An English Heritage grant was obtained by the R.S.P.B. to cover the consolidation of the ruined chapel in their Minsmere Reserve. This is the last remaining structure on the first site of Leiston Abbey, founded in 1182. The specified work included minor excavation, photographic recording and an architectural analysis of the chapel.
The building stands on shallow prominence in a pasture. Aerial photographs and a geophysics plot indicate that it is a secondary structure constructed within the footprint of the much larger original abbey church. The building clearly revealed three major structural phases as follows:
Phase I: The lowermost 2.5m of the standing building. Comprising well-coursed round beach cobbles and common flat pieces of ferruginous sandstone. Architectural features associated with this included diagonal buttresses at all four corners, a large east window, a low doorway towards the eastern end of the south side with an internal niche at ground level immediately to the east two windows, one on the south side (later blocked) and one to the north. The obvious truncation of these window openings suggests that the Phase I building had originally been higher, but was subsequently partially dismantled down to a flat consistent level around the whole structure from which Phase II was built.
Phase II: Comprising all of the wall fabric above Phase I to a maximum surviving height of c.5m. The fabric was coursed, again including beach cobbles. However. the ferruginous sandstone was absent, and there was a significant use of red frogless bricks (9 x 2 ¼ x 4 ¼ in) sometimes in discrete courses with some large exotic stone pieces and re-used limestone masonry, particularly on the north side. Some courses exhibited herringbone pattern. Architectural features associated with this phase included two windows, one on each of the north and south sides and a series of putlock holes immediately above the junction with the Phase I fabric.
Phase III: During World War II the structure was refurbished to hold a disguised pillbox built into its eastern end, facing the sea.
The dating of the Phase I and Phase II fabrics relies largely on the background historical data. The Phase I fabric was not inconsistent with a medieval date, but must post-date the translocation of the Abbey in 1363 to its new location. The Phase I building may have been constructed with salvaged materials from the dismantled first abbey, possibly in the later 14th century. The Phase II structure is clearly later in date, but had almost certainly gone out of use by the beginning of the 19th century when probably contemporary drawings show it as a shell without a roof. One possibility is that Phase II represents the refurbishment of the Phase I building to house John Green who, on his resignation as abbot in 1531, became an anchorite in the chapel of St Mary on the old abbey site. A combination of drawings, engravings and photographs then suggest that the structure suffered a gradual, but continual decline until, during the 2nd World War, the Phase III pillbox structure was incorporated into its eastern end, possibly not without some damage to the structure. Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2007 (S11)

A community-based survey and field evaluation concentrating investigations at the original abbey site in Minsmere. Four archaeological trenches were located around the surviving chapel to investigate anomalies picked up in the geophysical survey and identified via crop marks. The excavations revealed the extent to which the original abbey had been dismantled and removed to the second site at Leiston, identifying features relating to the original abbey precinct and recovering material culture linked to the structure (including fragments of stained glass, plaster and medieval tile), as well as evidence for life and work around the abbey (ceramics and animal bone). The project now enters a phase of analysis and reporting, and updates on the post excavation – as well as access to the site archive – is provided via the project microsite at https://digventures.com/leiston-abbey/. This was a crowdfunded excavation staffed by community volunteers and coordinated by DigVentures, undertaken with support from Heritage Lottery Fund. Historic England and RSPB granted access and assistance throughout.
Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2016 (S12)