West Langdon Abbey

Langdon Abbey

Carved stone corbel, part of the remains of the monastic cellars at Langdon Abbey.
Monastery information
Order	Premonstratensian
Established	circa 1192
Disestablished	1535
Dedicated to	the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Thomas the Martyr
People
Founder(s)	Sir William de Auberville
Important associated figures	Edward II
Site
Location	West Langdon, Kent, United Kingdom
Visible remains	Monastic cellars and 12th century Ice House
Public access	No , Occupied

Langdon Abbey (grid reference TR329468) was a Premonstratensian abbey situated near West Langdon, Kent. The visible remains of the abbey are now confined to the extensive cellaring below the 16th-century house that occupies its site and small remains of a 12th-century Ice House .

The abbey was founded by William de Auberville, an English jurist in the reign of Henry II, in about 1192 and was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Thomas the Martyr. Sir William annexed the church of St. Mary in Walmer to the abbey, in perpetual alms, and the church remained with the abbey until its dissolution.

In 1325 Edward II recuperated at the abbey, having been taken ill on the road to Dover.

The Abbot and Convent of Langedon were granted a licence to crenellate in 1348.

In 1491 it was reported that Langdon had 300 acres (121 hectares) of grain and a very good supply of animals.

In 1535 the abbey was reputedly the first religious house to be dissolved by Henry VIII and had, at that time, an annual revenue estimated at £56. Dr. Leyton, the commissioner who carried out the visitation of the abbey, sent the following report to Cromwell on his arrest of the abbot and his mistress:

The fee of the manor was acquired by John Master, who died in 1588. His son, James Master (who died in 1631, aged 84) was described as "Primo de Sandwich, postea de East Langden, ubi edificavit mansionem". James Master's second and eldest surviving son, Sir Edward Master, was High Sheriff of Kent in 1639.