Buckland Abbey

Buckland Abbey stands in the village of Buckland Monachorum near Yelverton in Devon. It began as a Cistercian abbey founded in 1278 by Amicia, Countess of Devon, one of the last such houses built in England. The monks lived around a cloister north of the church, supported by large estates including five granges and over 20,000 acres. The abbey church, unusually simple for its date, survives within the later house, with parts of the transept chapels and tower arches still visible. A tithe barn 55 metres long and a probable 14th-century guest house also remain from the monastic period. The abbey’s post-monastic history centres on Sir Richard Grenville the Younger and Sir Francis Drake. Henry VIII sold it in 1541 to Sir Richard Grenville the Elder, who converted it into a residence while keeping the church as the main structure. His son Sir Roger Grenville died in 1545 when the Mary Rose sank off Portsmouth. The younger Richard Grenville completed the work in the 1570s before selling the property in 1581 to Drake’s agents. Drake lived there for fifteen years, and later owners included the Dowager Lady Seaton. Today Buckland Abbey is owned by the National Trust and open to the public. The house contains Drake’s Drum and displays part of Plymouth City Council’s art collection. A medieval Great Barn stands beside the abbey, and ox sheds house craft workshops. The Cider House garden offers both wild and kitchen plots. The National Trust Costume Group recreate Elizabethan garments, including a full Drake costume and a new Lady Drake outfit. A Rembrandt portrait, valued at £30 million, was confirmed here in 2014 after restoration.