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A BRIEF HISTORY OF DALE ABBEY

Introduction
The remains of the Abbey can be found in the village of Dale Abbey and can be reached by a short walk from the village centre. The ruins stand on private property and so access is limited. On approaching the village, the remains of the great east window are an obvious landmark and sadly virtually all that remains of this once great building.

The Legend of the Derby Baker
The Dale has been a place of worship for centuries, however the origins of the Abbey at Dale are steeped in myth and legend. Many centuries ago, there lived in the parish of St.Mary's in the City of Derby, a devout and God fearing baker. His love for his fellow men led to him being compared to the Biblical Roman Centurion, Cornelius. His love of God and his desire to please him led him to give away any items of food or clothing surplus to his and his family's requirements to the poor and needy of Derby.

During one midday sleep, The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Cornelius in his dreams and told him that his work and devotion had pleased God and that he was to go to a place called 'Depedale' and there serve God in hunger, thirst, coldness and nakedness.
Even though he had no knowledge of this place, Cornelius immediately abandoned all he possessed and made his way out of Derby. On reaching the village of Stanley, he overheard a mother telling her daughter to take their cattle to Depedale. On hearing this, he asked as to the whereabouts of the place and was told to accompany the young girl until she arrived at her destination. What Cornelius found when he arrived in the Depedale, was a desolate and marshy valley.

  
Despite these deprivations, he carved out for himself a dwelling from the soft sandstone cliffs on the valley slopes. In this humble home he lived and worshiped: until one day, while out hunting with his dogs and friends, Ralph Fitz Geremund, the Lord of the Manor of Ockbrook and Alvaston and whose lands included Depedale, came across Cornelius. On seeing this poor man clothed in rags and skins and on hearing his story, Ralph took pity on him and permitted him to remain in the Dale and granted him the tithe of the mill at Borrowash.

The Legend of the Outlaw
Another story attached to the founding of the Abbey tells of a notorious outlaw named Uthlagus and his band who, intent on plundering the pockets of travellers moving between Nottingham and Derby, arrived in the Dale and rested. While he and his companions were asleep, a vision came to him in which he saw a golden cross reaching high into the sky and  whose arms spread as far as the eye could see. He saw men from all the nations of the earth come to worship there. On waking, the outlaw told his companions of what he had seen and from that day forwards he would no longer pursue his illegal trade but devote himself to more befitting work.
 
The Establishment of the Abbey: Failure and Success

Although no absolutely accurate dates can be attached to the various events which took place during the early years of Dale Abbey, it is believed the baker arrived in Depedale in or around the year 1130. Between 1145 and the end of the 12th century there were three attempts to establish an abbey in the Dale.

In 1145 a party of Augustinian monks arrived from Calke Priory. They were followed some twenty years later by Premonstratensian canons from Tupholme and finally, a few years later by another group from Welbeck. All these attempts failed, primarily due to the isolation of the area and the lack of good arable land amidst the thick woodlands. Finally, from around the year 1199, the Abbey became well established enough  - and with the acquisition of further lands, tithes and other properties - to survive for the next three hundred and forty years.
Although a relatively large establishment, the abbey at its height was home to no more than twenty-four canons: including the Abbot, dropping to as few as sixteen at times. This figure would have fallen even lower when one realises that at any one time, four of these canons would have been absent while serving as parish priests at Ilkeston, Heanor, Kirk Hallam and Stanton by Dale (see also Ilkeston's Archaeology).

The Abbey became self supporting and self sufficient and with the gradual expansion of its holdings, eventually owned around 24,000 acres of land. Much of this would have been leased or rented out to local farmers or used for grazing or for the production of produce for the residents of the Abbey. The Abbey not only provided for the spiritual needs of the local populace but also served as a hospital for the sick and as a sanctuary for the weary traveller.

The Dissolution of Dale Abbey
On October 24th 1539, the Act of Dissolution was signed by King Henry the Eighth and so brought an end to almost four centuries of monastic life in the Dale.
Following the dissolution, Sir Francis Pole of Radbourne took possession of the Abbey, along with its furnishings and fittings. These were either gradually sold off or stripped out and installed in other churches. Morley Church became home to some of the stained and painted glass, floor tiles and an entire porchway. The ornately carved font cover was installed in Radbourne Church while Chaddesden received a window frame.
The Abbey's font eventually found its way back to Dale Abbey All Saints Church in 1884 and the slabs upon which the canons walked for so many centuries, can be found in the grounds of the church at the Moravian Settlement at Ockbrook. 

 

The Abbey Today
Although little remains of the Abbey, it is still possible to gauge the sheer size of the place from its ruins. The most obvious feature is of course the great east window. Other sections of the original Abbey can still be traced around the site as a number were eventually incorporated into other buildings or put to other uses.

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