Dieulacres Abbey / Deulencres / Dieu-la-Cres Abbey

No individual entry found for Dieulacres in the Domesday survey. The entry for this abbey in the Victoria County History (Stafford, vol. 3, 1970) notes that the abbey had originally been established by the older Ranulf {de Gernon] between 1146 and 1153 in Poulton, near Pulford, Cheshire, but after a combination of negative factors, not the least the attacks from the Welsh, the younger Ranulf [de Blundeville], grandson of the former, "found a Cistercian abbey on the site of the former chapel of St. Mary the Virgin there, providing it with buildings and ample possessions. [...] The abbey was surrendered to Dr. Thomas Legh on 20 October 1538. [...] In 1552 the site of the abbey and other property in the area, all of it in the hands of tenants, were granted to Sir Ralph Bagnall [...] Very little now remains of the abbey, but the buildings seem to have been on the normal Cistercian pattern. [...] The church, which consisted of nave, side aisles, transepts, crossing-tower, and chancel, was rebuilt in the 14th century; the work was begun by 'the good king Edward', and in 1351 the Black Prince visited the abbey and gave 500 marks towards the work. The inventory of 1538 shows '4 old altars in the aisles, 4 altars of alabaster in the body of the church', and this may indicate two altars in each of the transepts; there were also 12 candlesticks on the rood-screen. The conventual buildings lay on the south side of the church." The remains of the abbey are listed in Historic England [List Entry Number: 1006107]: "The monument includes the standing structural and some of the buried remains of a Cistercian monastery known as Dieulacres Abbey, situated on the northern side of the Churnet valley [...] The upstanding remains visible today consist of the clustered shaft bases of three choir piers and a length of wall, constructed of coursed and square sandstone.