Humberston Abbey

Humberston Abbey stands in the village of Humberston in Lincolnshire. It was a Benedictine abbey founded in 1160 by William son of Ralf for the Tironensian Order. The monks lived under the rule of Saint Tiron until the early 15th century. In 1305 a fire destroyed the monastic buildings and the community had to beg for alms and sell church rights to rebuild. By 1413 the house had adopted Benedictine observance and in 1422 the Bishop of Lincoln traced its monks to Saint Mary’s, Hamby in Normandy. The abbey was never seized as an Alien priory and survived until the Dissolution in 1536. Its buildings lay south of St Peter’s Church in Humberston. The site has never been fully excavated, so only fragments remain above ground. Local tradition still recalls the abbey’s presence in the landscape. Visitors today see the ruins beside St Peter’s Church. The remaining walls show the scale of the former cloister and church. A low mound marks the former infirmary. The abbey’s fields stretch towards the North Sea coast. The quiet churchyard holds a few carved stones from the monastic period.