June of 1538

In June of 1538, King Henry VIII’s Suppression of the Monasteries was in full swing with devastating consequences. On the 23rd of June that year, in South Yorkshire, Abbot Henry Cundall, the abbot of Roche Abbey, which was founded in 1147, and his 17 monks gathered in their chapter house. Their plan was to surrender their abbey to the king’s commissioners and forgo any destruction that might occur during a forced surrender. Roche was one of the many larger religious houses that ‘voluntarily’ surrendered that year.

Henry VIII’s agents arrived to deem the abbey buildings unusable, so they could go ahead with an orderly dismantling and auction. But while the demolition was in progress, a mob of looters descended on Roche, and chaos ensued. Floors were ripped up, rafters torn down, doors taken from their hinges, precious handwritten manuscripts stolen or destroyed, and anything of any value lost forever.

Eventually, only the magnificent fragments of the church crossing remained standing.

Photo of the ruins of the abbey.

Sources:

https://www.dhi.ac.uk/cis.../image_gallery/pages/0248.php...

https://www.british-history.ac.uk/.../vol3/pp153-156%3f...