Notley Abbey

Notley Abbey was an Augustinian abbey founded in the 12th century near Long Crendon, Buckinghamshire, England. A team from Oxford excavated Notley Abbey in 1937, establishing a layout and timeline of the building's construction. The building has been visited by notable figures such as Henry V, and was owned by the celebrities Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. Today, the remnants of the abbey are owned by the company Bijou Wedding Venues and are used to host weddings.

Notley Abbey was founded in between 1154 and 1164 by the second Earl of Buckingham, Walter Giffard and his wife, Ermengard. The house was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Baptist and was made to house Augustinian canons. Despite its lack of historical fame, the Notley Abbey was one of the largest and richest Augustinian monasteries in the Oxford region. Notley Abbey was originally meant to fuse the lifestyles of monastic and apostolic people, forming a middle ground between monks and secular clergy; however, the monastic lifestyle dominated. The fact that Notley Abbey was constructed at Earl's park in Long Crendon suggests that Augustinians were becoming purely monastic by 1160.

Notley Abbey possessed several pieces of land including Lower Winchendon (not acquired until around 1302), Chilton, Princes Risborough, and Stranglethorpe in Lincolnshire. These lands helped generate revenue, but the abbey's primary source of income came from tithes from appropriated churches. Traditionally, a secular vicar served an abbey's appropriated churches, but in 1258, Alexander IV granted Notley Abbey permission to serve their appropriated churches by their own canons in person. In 1461, Notley Abbey absorbed a small priory of Chetwood, thus considerably adding to its revenue sources.

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