Now! Then! An expedition leaves Fountains Abbey to found Barnoldswick (WR/Lancs), predecessor of Kirkstall Abbey, as told by one of the colonists

19 May 1147: An expedition leaves Fountains Abbey to found Barnoldswick (WR/Lancs), predecessor of Kirkstall Abbey, as told by one of the colonists

E.K. Clark, Ed. 1895. The Foundation of Kirkstall Abbey. Publications of the Thoresby Society, Vol. 4. Leeds: Thoresby Society. Get it:

Excerpt

In the year of the Lord 1147, a certain man of noble rank, Henry, by name de Lacy, in the territory of York, undertook the construction of a monastery of the Cistercian order. He accordingly assigned a spot, and erected a monastery; and in the 15th year of the foundation of the monastery of Fountains, on May 19th, we were sent out under the Abbot Alexander, twelve monks and ten lay brethren. This Alexander was one of Fountains’ first fathers, own brother of the Lord Richard, second Abbot of Fountains, who at Clairvaux rested in peace. Among these brethren, I, Serlo, was sent forth, a man now decrepit, as you see, and worn out with old age. The place of our habitation at first was called Bernolfwic, which we called by a changed name – St Mary’s Mount. We remained there for several years, suffering many discomforts of cold and hunger, partly because of the inclemency of the air and the ceaseless trouble of rain, partly because, the kingdom being in a turmoil, many a time our possessions were wasted by brigands. The site of our habitation therefore displeased us, and the abbey was reduced to a grange. And through the advice of our patron we migrated to another place, which is now called Kirkstall.

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.

Abbreviations

Comment

The Latin (Walbran 1863). See the above article for the Latin and English of the early 13th century chronicle of Hugh of Kirkstall. Re the date: the writer comments something to the effect that while one might believe that the Barnoldswick expedition set out on the 19th of May, there is no reason to suppose that the move to Kirkstall took place on the same day.

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Original

In the year of the Incarnation of the Lord 1147, a certain man of noble rank, Henry, by name de Lacy, in the territory of York undertook the construction of a monastery of the Cistercian order. He accordingly assigned a spot, and erected a monastery; and there is sent to him a convent of monks under Abbot Alexander. This Alexander was one of our [of Fountains] first fathers, own brother of the Lord Richard, second Abbot of Fountains, who, as has been related, at Clairvaux rested in peace. Among these brethren, I, Serlo, was sent forth, a man now decrepit, as you see, and worn out with old age. The place of our habitation at first was called Bernolfwic (al. Barnolfswet), which we called by a changed name – The Mount of St. Mary. We remained there for several years, suffering many discomforts of cold and hunger, partly because of the inclemency of the air and the ceaseless trouble of rain, partly because, the kingdom being in a turmoil, many a time our possessions were wasted by brigands. The site of our habitation therefore displeased us, and the abbey was reduced to a grange. And through the advice of our patron we migrated to another place, which is now called Kirkstall. In the 15th year of the Foundation of the Monastery of Fountains, on May 19th, we were sent out under the Abbot Alexander, twelve monks and ten lay brethren.

240 words.