File:Boxley Abbey Buildings on Site (52207293309).jpg

From the time of St Augustine's mission to refound Christianity in AD 597 to the reign of Henry VIII, monasteries formed an important facet of both religious and secular life in the British Isles. Monasteries were built to house communities of monks, canons (priests), and sometimes lay-brothers, living a common life of religious observance under some form of systematic discipline. It is estimated from documentary evidence that over 700 monasteries were founded in England. These ranged in size from major communities with several hundred members to tiny establishments with a handful of brethren. They belonged to a wide variety of different religious orders, each with its own philosophy. As a result, they vary considerably in the detail of their appearance and layout, although all possess the basic elements of church, domestic accommodation for the community, and work buildings. Monasteries were inextricably woven into the fabric of Medieval society, acting not only as centres of worship, learning, and charity, but also, because of the vast landholdings of some orders, of immense wealth and political influence. They were established in all parts of England, some in towns and others in the remotest of areas. Many monasteries acted as the centre of a wide network including parish churches, almshouses, hospitals, farming estates and tenant villages. Some 75 of these religious houses belonged to the Cistercian Order founded by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux in the twelfth century. The Cistercians - or "white monks on account of their undyed habits" - led a harsher life than the earlier monastic orders, believing in the virtue of a life of austerity, prayer and manual labour. Seeking seclusion, they founded their houses in wild and remote areas where they undertook major land improvement projects. Their communities were often very large and included many lay brethren who acted as ploughmen, dairymen, shepherds, carpenters, and masons. The Cistercians' skills as farmers eventually made the Order one of the most rich and influential. They were especially successful in the rural north of England where they concentrated on sheep farming. Boxley is one of the most complete of the group of Cistercian Abbeys which were established as daughter houses by larger monasteries. Of these daughter houses virtually nothing is known other than the layouts of the church and cloisters. Few Abbey precincts survive sufficiently extensively to allow an understanding of the range of agricultural and industrial activities undertaken at such a site to support the community of monks and lay-brethren. The degree of survival and diversity of features in the example at Boxley provide a potentially outstanding opportunity to do so. At the same time, the small scale excavation of parts of the cloisters and church at Boxley means that it is well documented archaeologically.

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