What they found

Lip-smacking Mick
The prospect of discovering a lost Cistercian abbey was one that had monastery-loving Mick Aston smacking his lips in anticipation. 'Not only a lost monastery, but it was only there for 60 years. So if we could find it, it would be a major discovery – a real time capsule to show us what these places were like during that particular period,' he said.

Well, finding a monastery can't be that difficult, can it? All those buildings for the monks to live, study and pray in, the abbot's house, the monastic church – not to mention all the ancillary structures of a fully functioning monastic estate. What shall we do with the rest of the three days?

In reality, it's not as easy as it might seem. The fact that the abbey at Poulton was only there for a little over half a century was not only an exciting opportunity, as Mick saw it, but also a major obstacle. It was quite likely, given its short lifespan, that it comprised mainly timber buildings and was never rebuilt in stone, unlike its longer lasting contemporaries. Whatever traces it left in the landscape would be hard to distinguish from other structures, of which a number are known from historical records, maps, plans and investigations carried out by the Poulton Research Project. Abbey estates were also extensive, so the site of a long-demolished structure might not be obvious.

Two targets
Time Team targeted two principal locations for excavations. One involved the site of a medieval chapel, where some 56 burials were excavated by the Poulton Research Project from 1995 to 1998. The other was the site of the former Poulton Hall, occupied by the Manley family during the 15th and 16th centuries and marked on a 17th-century map. This was where a medieval-stone staircase leading into the ground had been found in earlier excavations, together with various walls, surfaces and other remains.

Neither turned out to be the site of the original Cistercian monastery. The chapel was identified as a capella ante portas, a 'chapel by the gate' available for the use of locals or visitors to the monastery without the need for them to intrude on the monks. (The Cistercian Order was extremely protective of its isolation from the outside world.)

A monastic grange
The Poulton Hall site required some more careful deciphering as it had gone through various building stages and comprised various walls, earthworks and other features. After extensive excavations, however, it was concluded that none of these related to the original abbey buildings. The medieval remains here were identified as a monastic grange – the centre of an agricultural estate that continued to be run by its monastic landlords after their relocation to Dieulacres Abbey.

The grange would have been centred around a courtyard overlooked by half-timbered buildings, with a gated entrance in the front range and the two side ranges made up of agricultural and service areas with stables, buttery, kitchen and other facilities. A horse's stirrup was found here during the excavations.

The fourth block would have been a high status living area, as evidenced by the high quality tiles that were found redeposited in the foundations and floor areas of later construction phases. This remained unexcavated, however, as the plan of the grange was only finally determined late on the third day.

Landscape detective
As for the location of the abbey, cue Stewart Ainsworth for another piece of landscape detective work. He pointed out how the stream that runs through the site is diverted from its natural route – which is 'exactly what you'd expect to see from Cistercian water works'. The Cistercians were well known for their hydrologic engineering and Stewart identified a field in the crook of the current river course as a probable location for the abbey buildings. Unfortunately, any remains must lie under a metre or more of alluvial deposits, as a result of repeated flooding of the field over the past seven centuries. Not even 'geofizz' could penetrate that sufficiently clearly to see whether Stewart was right, so Poulton Abbey still has a few secrets left to reveal.

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