Towcester, Northamptonshire
First screened 27 January 2008

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Other websites
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The priory of Sewardsley
www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=40230
The online Victoria County History summarises the main documentary sources tracing the history of the nuns of Sewardsley, from its foundation by Richard de Lestre in the reign of Henry II to the granting of a £5 per year pension on the dissolution of the monasteries in 1536.

Cistercians in Yorkshire Project
http://cistercians.shef.ac.uk
The Cistercians, or 'White Monks', played an important role in the religious and economic life of medieval England. Some of their major houses, including the world heritage site of Fountains Abbey, are in Yorkshire, and this website focuses on these centres of the Cistercian way of life. The project incorporates the newest technologies in three-dimensional modelling with rigorous conventional historical and archaeological research and expert architectural analysis, and the website contains various multimedia features, games and quizzes as well as more conventional material. It also includes a glossary and detailed gazetteer with information about every Cistercian abbey and nunnery in Britain and Ireland.

Cistercian nuns
http://cistercians.shef.ac.uk/
cistercian_life/women/nuns/index.php
Part of the Cistercians in Yorkshire Project website, this extensive section – almost a book in its own right – contains a wealth of information on Cistercian nuns, covering everything from their history and organisation to daily life and devotions.

For links to other websites, either on archaeology generally or specific to the periods and subjects raised in the programme, see our extensive section on Archaeology websites. In particular, see the section on the Medieval era.

Further reading
Monasteries in the Landscape by Mick Aston (Tempus, 2000) £17.99
This is a revised, rewritten and extensively updated edition of Mick Aston's 1993 book Monasteries (long since out of print), which focused on the place of the monasteries in the British landscape. In this new book he explains how and why monasticism developed in Britain and why monasteries were placed where they were. The book looks beyond the closed world of the monastery, abbey or priory, to examine their agricultural, industrial and commercial activities that had a huge impact on the surrounding countryside and towns.

Abbeys and Priories by Glyn Coppack (Tempus, 2006) paperback £17.99
This well-illustrated introduction to the archaeology of monasteries explains the development of the variations on the familiar layout of church and cloisters; it discusses the monastic precincts and such fundamental topics as the drainage and sanitation. Coppack, who is also the author of The White Monks: The Cistercians in Britain (Tempus, 1998), examines the ways in which medieval monasteries have been studied, what they comprised and how they can be interpreted, using historical, art historical and archaeological sources.

Cistercian Europe: Architecture of contemplation by Terryl N Kinder (Cistercian Publications, 2002) US price $70
Co-published with Cistercian Publications in Kalamazoo, Michigan, this large format and beautifully illustrated volume provides a complete introduction to the Cistercians' medieval abbeys and the monastic order that created them.

Medieval Monasteries by Patrick Greene (Continuum, 2005) paperback £27.99
This new and updated edition provides an accessible account of the archaeology of medieval monastic houses throughout Britain and Ireland. As well as discussing many of the advances made by research over the last two decades, innovative methods of archaeological investigation are described, and examples of good practice in the preservation of sites and their interpretation to visitors are provided. Suggestions for further research, examples of outstanding monastic sites to visit, a glossary of terms, a comprehensive bibliography and an index are also included.

Discovering Abbeys and Priories by Geoffrey Wright (Shire, 1998) paperback £5.99
This user-friendly handbook clarifies the difference between abbeys and priories, traces the history of monasteries from Anglo-Saxon times to the dissolution, and describes the different monastic orders. Considerable reference is made to sites open to the public.

Life in a Medieval Abbey by Tony McAleavy (English Heritage, 1996) paperback £6.95
Colourful picture book explaining monasticism in simple terms, from a 'who's who' of medieval monks to an evaluation of the political role of the church in medieval England. Distinguished from other guides by some brilliant reconstruction paintings.

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