Recent work at Meaux Abbey

Meaux Abbey, a daughter house of Fountains Abbey, is extremely fortunate in that it has excellent documentation; a number of buildings were described in Abbot Thomas Burtons Chronicle of 1396 -9, spanning 250 years; we know that the abbey developed from early flimsy wattle and daub temporary structures to timber and later, when a quarry was available, to stone. Although there are no extant buildings, documentation illustrates much of the history, economic activities and architectural development of the convent; and because the site was preserved under permanent pasture since the 1540s significant archaeological remains are believed to survive largely undisturbed by antiquarian and later investigations. Research for a doctoral thesis at the University of Sheffield has used documentary evidence, the results of earlier excavations and survey, an RCHM earthwork survey and new resistivity survey to provide greater understanding of the outer precinct, its layout, the way it was used, and its relationship between the inner and outer courts. The site has enormous potential for further investigation, including a need for limited carefully targeted research excavation which could be justified by the increasing levels of desiccation and damage.