Dureford Abbey

Dureford Abbey stands in the quiet countryside of West Sussex, near the village of Rogate. Founded in 1161 by Henry Hussey, it was a Premonstratensian monastery, a type of religious community known for its strict discipline. The monks built their church and other buildings using stone from a local quarry, granted to them without limit. Over the centuries, the abbey grew in size as local landowners donated more land. Yet its history was troubled from the start, with thefts, lightning strikes and violent disputes among its own members. By the 15th century, the abbey faced repeated attacks from Sir Henry Hussey, a descendant of the founder, who came with armed men threatening to burn the monastery. A plague outbreak in 1482 killed most of the community, leaving only a few canons to care for the crumbling buildings. By 1535, the abbey was so poor it was mocked as ‘Dirtforde’ by a royal official. The next year, Henry VIII closed it under the first Suppression Act, and the site passed to Sir William Fitzwilliam. Today, little remains of the once-proud monastery. A farmhouse built in 1784 now covers part of the site, and fragments of carved stone and a coffin lid lie scattered among the grass. The only medieval building still standing is a barn, its sturdy walls a quiet reminder of the abbey’s past. Nearby, traces of a watermill can be seen, half-buried in the earth. The fields around are peaceful, with no sign of the violence and debt that once marked the abbey’s final years.