Remains Of Thornton Abbey Church And Adjoining Monastic Ranges

The remains of Thornton Abbey Church and the adjoining monastic buildings were founded as a Priory in 1139. The late 12th to early 13th century dormitory vault is part of the structure, while the rest was largely rebuilt between the mid-13th and late 14th centuries. The church construction began in 1264, with the south transept built between 1280 and 1290, the chapter house from 1282 to 1308, the cloistral range starting in 1322-1323, and the refectory built from 1348 to 1364, along with some minor additions from the late 15th to early 16th centuries. There were repairs made in the 20th century. The buildings are constructed from chalk, limestone, and ironstone rubble, featuring limestone ashlar facing and dressings, with sections of later brickwork on the south and east monastic ranges.

The plan includes a cruciform church with an 8-bay aisled nave, 2-bay north and south transepts with east aisles, a 5-bay presbytery with a chapel of St. Thomas to the north and a 5-bay Lady Chapel to the east. The monastic buildings are arranged around cloisters to the south of the nave, with an octagonal chapter house at the southeast angle of the south transept. The walls mostly survive only to the lower courses, except for the south end of the south transept and some adjoining sections. The inner face of the south wall of the south transept features lower sections of filleted shafts of the south respond to the east arcade and blind arcading with geometrical tracery. To the south is a narrow corridor-room, possibly a parlour, with blank arcading and quadripartite rib-vaulting. Further south are the remains of a rib-vaulted vestibule with a shafted pointed arch leading to the chapter house. The chapter house has two northwest bays standing to full height and portions of two adjoining bays, with a moulded plinth and sections of two buttresses, as well as a stone bench and blind arcading on the inner walls, showcasing very fine geometrical tracery. For more detailed descriptions, refer to the DoE (AMHB) guidebook, Thornton Abbey, 1978, and N Pevsner and J Harris, The Buildings of England: Lincolnshire, 1978.