Polesworth Abbey and The Nunnery Gateway Trust are grateful to all those who have supported our appeal for the Conservation and Reuse of the historic Gatehouse.

Gatehouse Project – 700 year old building to be restored to its original use

Work is about to start on the conservation and refurbishment of the historic Abbey Gatehouse at Polesworth. The Gatehouse is a local landmark and dates from 1320, when the Abbey converted an earlier Gatehouse into the remarkable — but now dilapidated — building we still see today and where it is likely that William Shakespeare received his education at The English School.

The project will:

• restore and refurbish the dilapidated Gatehouse building;
• involve local people recording the conservation and making a film about its long history.

After nearly 500 years the Gatehouse is to be returned to its original use. Supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and by the Country Houses Foundation, the Gatehouse is to become overnight accommodation for people to stay in this very special, unusual and hugely historic place.

Fr Philip said, “In a survey of people in Polesworth carried out in 2006 almost everyone identified the Gatehouse and the Church as the most significant buildings in Polesworth. Now it is possible to bring together the willingness of people who already generously welcome schools and other visitors to Polesworth Abbey, with the opportunity to provide an unusual place for visitors to stay. This is a sign that tourism will be important for the future of our village.”

History of the Gatehouse to be recorded on film

The Benedictine Abbey was founded in 827. It survived the Viking invaders, the Norman Conquest and an attempt by Sir Robert Marmion to steal the property belonging to the nuns. Our Patron, St Editha, came to the rescue. A ghostly encounter with her one night persuaded Sir Robert to give back what he had stolen!

This is just one scene from the Gatehouse’s long history which is sure to feature in the short film about the history of Gatehouse over the past 700 years and which includes the possible association with William Shakespeare, John Donne and other Elizabethan writers and poets as well as personal recollections of local people who remember ‘the dungeon entrance’ and were superstitious about the porter’s dungeon and the fate of those who might be dragged inside!

Together with our patrons, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Country Houses Foundation, we invite people to get involved. We need to recruit people who will record the conservation and make a film about the history of the Gatehouse to show to all the new visitors we expect to welcome to Polesworth Abbey in the future.

We need actors and scriptwriters, technical people and everyone who can help with the filmmaking. Our project can provide training for people who would like to learn to operate cameras and make sound recordings. We need people who know about the history of the Gatehouse or who have stories to tell from their own experience.

The first meeting for those who would like to be involved is on Saturday 9th May at 10.00 am in the Abbey Refectory. Please come and see!

Additional Information about the Gatehouse

Features of the earliest Gatehouse accommodation are to be preserved. These include:

• The Guest Chambers , with the historic fireplace, early window casements and elaborate roof. These will again become accommodation for guests.

• The Porter’s Lodge will be reopened and, for the first time since 1539, visitors will be able to see where the porter waited to welcome pilgrims and visitors to the Abbey, deal with requests for food and clothing, direct the sick to the infirmary and those seeking prayers to the Church. Modern-day pilgrims will be able to follow the paths of the various Medieval visitors – receive hospitality in the Refectory, attend services in the Church, light candles and ask for prayers. Schools visitors will help make remedies for sick people in the Apocathary, and visit Cedric the sick pilgrim in the Infirmary. There will be an exhibition of beekeeping and the opportunity to help illuminate manuscripts in the Scriptorium. Visitors will be able to see the 700-year-old guest accommodation, available once again for paying guests to stay.

• Part of the roof Chambers, once converted into rooms for boarders, when the Gatehouse became ‘The English School’ after the Dissolution.

• The Church driveway will be improved, with lighting, drainage and safe parking.

Description

On the ground floor of the Gatehouse there is a little Porter’s Lodge with access to the main gate and to the separate pedestrians’ gate. The first floor of the Gatehouse provides accommodation for the porter and his family, which is modest and not at all elaborate. However, the second floor, which extends over the roadway, provides accommodation of some amazing quality. The nuns built these Guest Chambers in the Gatehouse to accommodate the most important and wealthy people, and to attract patrons for their work and everything that was done by the Abbey.

Accommodation for Guests at Polesworth Abbey

From the foundation of the Abbey in 827, people had always been able to stay. There was a Guest Hall near to the church and overlooking the river. But the Guest Range over the Abbey Gate was more elaborate than the accommodation near to the church. The Gatehouse accommodation was the best possible for its day — far exceeding a five-star rating and built deliberately to attract very wealthy patrons. These people would be attracted by the quality of the Gatehouse Guest Range. They would stay in the splendid Gatehouse, be waited upon by the Porter and his family, and seek spiritual advice from the nuns.

Guests become Patrons

While they were guests, these wealthy people would join in the daily prayers of the Abbey and see all that was done by the nuns who offered food and clothing to the poor, medicine to the sick, shelter to those who were homeless or travelling, and spiritual hope and comfort to local people and guests of all qualities. On leaving, these wealthy people would be urged to leave a donation or endow the work of the Abbey, so that more could be done and help given to people more widely.

The nuns venture in creating the Gatehouse Guest accommodation was clearly successful. The Abbey grew in influence throughout the Medieval period.

The Gatehouse after the Dissolution of the Monasteries

The nuns left Polesworth Abbey after nearly 700 years. In 1539 Henry VIII ‘dissolved’ all monasteries and took their lands for himself. The work of Polesworth Abbey always continued, with faithful lay-people and clergy fulfilling the functions once done by the nuns.

The Gatehouse, no longer needed for guests after the Dissolution, continued as the new school, run by the priest and supported by the Goodere family, who bought certain parts of the Abbey’s buildings and remodelled the former Abbess’ House in the time of Elizabeth I, into manor house for themselves and for their family.

A new Venture – to return the Gatehouse for visitors and overnight guests

Reflecting on the decision to return the Gatehouse for use as overnight accommodation and for guests to visit as part of Polesworth Abbey’s heritage outreach, Father Philip said: “There is a lot interest now in history and especially in visiting places where history is still visible. Polesworth Abbey is a place where there is lots to see, and also where heritage is encountered spiritually.”

“I believe that Heritage is something very deep. We search for our deepest roots – and look for these in our personal and shared heritage. Visitors come to Polesworth wanting to know about the families or about the historic past, because these are things that endure. So much of our present-day work, environment and experience is transitory, throw-away and trivial. Real Heritage is what has been past down through the generations and has seemed to lots of people to be valuable.”

“At Polesworth Abbey people find a deep sense-of-place and meaning which is inevitably religious. People feel the sense of God’s presence – visitors often comment on the spiritual feeling of the Abbey site, especially the Church and the former Cloister area, where the new Sensory Garden provides a quiet and reflective place to experience these things. We hope that more visitors will come to see the restored Gatehouse and especially welcome those who come stay overnight.”

“Local people welcome visitors each day and provide information and hospitality, which helps those who come experience these mysteries. Our Church continues to do everything that the nuns who were here did. We maintain a daily pattern of prayers, welcome visitors and respond as we can to one another and the various needs of our visitors in the spirit of Christian service and with confidence in our Saviour Jesus Christ. St Editha walks with us and this new venture is another step in our journey of faith.”