Sawtry History
The Archaeology of Sawtry Abbey
Archaeology of The Abbey Site
Roman artefacts have been found in fields adjacent to the Abbey Site and the Ancient track way denotes that the Romans once occupied the site. This cart track possibly meant that the quayside could have been older also. This was probably where the Romans would have taken boats across the Mere to the Coast to bring provisions and salt from the Wash and also connecting to the Nene and Ouse rivers. On another site on the other side of Abbey Farm, Anglo Saxon pottery has been found. Stone hand axes of the pre historic period have been found near to Monks Wood and an Iron Age site with six roundhouses was found at Black Horse Farm on the Great North Road at Sawtry proving that this area has consistently been settled from prehistoric times through to modern day. In a 19th Century excavation, foundations of a church with a Bell Tower were found. The Abbey site still has more Archaeological information to give us and Sawtry History Society plan to do more research of the site.
Sawtry History Society Project on the Cistercian Abbey of St Mary and Sawtry Judith Medieval Village
The History Society undertook a Geophysics project in the summer of 2016 to find out more about the Cistercian Abbey of St Mary at Sawtry and the deserted medieval village of Sawtry Judith. The site became a Scheduled Ancient Monument in 1954. Although much research has been done over the years by local archaeologists, by English Heritage, now known as Historic England and more recently by members of the History Society, there are still many gaps in what we know about the Abbey site which was founded in 1147 and the village settlement with the church of St Mary's. The village of Sawtry Judith was recorded as a land holding of Countess Judith in the Domesday Book, written in 1086, which states it had a Church, 27 villagers and a priest so the church and village settlement pre dates the Abbey. Historic England are keen to know more about the Abbey Site and the Medieval village and would like us to help them fill in some of those gaps. Sawtry Abbey project is ongoing. For details of this and other Sawtry History Society projects in the future, please contact Sawtry Archaeology at the email address at the top of the page. A links to the website will be posted here.
Links to Historic England and the Domesday Book.
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HISTORIC ENGLAND - Sawtry Abbey
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​​​Visit to Roche Abbey
A visit was made to Roche Abbey near Rotherham on 18th June 2017 to see the Abbey Ruins there. This Abbey ruin was Cistercian and almost identical in layout to Sawtry Abbey with some minor differences. It was lovely to see Abbey Ruins so much like Sawtry's. It is now easier to picture what ours at Sawtry would have looked like. There would have been a standard layout of all Cistercian Abbeys, building them in a isolated spot near to a body of running water and if the water wasn't running the Monks created a weir like the one at Roche to keep the water flowing. The fresh water would have been used
in the kitchen area and flowed down to the Garderobes (Toilets) for sanitation The images below are of the Gatehouse and what remains of the Nave, the Cloister and the weir. For more information on Roche Abbey please click the link to Historic England Roche Abbey Website.
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