Monasteries (Know the Landscape)

One of a series designed for local historians and all lovers of Britain's heritage. The book examines the place of monasteries in the landscape - how they affected and were affected by the countryside in which they were built. The author explains how monasticism arrived and developed in Britain - growing from austere beginnings to rich and powerful estates. He looks at why abbeys and priories were sited where they were and at all aspects of their activities from estate management and farming policy to industrial and commercial operations in the countryside and towns. The book also examines the consequences of the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII, when many monastic estates and buildings were bought by private owners and adapted for secular use.