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Jan 13, 1139
Thornton Priory founded
William Le Gros (c 1110–1179), Count of Aumale in Normandy and Lord of Holderness in Yorkshire, pledged to found a new Augustinian priory dedicated to St Mary. -
Jan 1, 1148
Thornton Priory elevated to Abbey status
Day & month n/k, year 1148. -
Aug 20, 1179
William Le Gros dies and is buried at Thornton Abbey
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Oct 1, 1253
Great flood at Thornton
Day n/k. Much of our knowledge of this comes from a chronicle completed in about 1533 but based on 13th-century and later documents that no longer survive. -
Jan 1, 1261
44 Masons paid to quarry stones for work on the great church.
Day & month n/k. In 1261, according to the chronicle, 44 masons were paid to quarry 1,500 stones, before work began in 1264 on the great church. -
Jan 1, 1264
Work begins on the great church
Day & month n/k. Work begins on the great church. -
Period: Jan 1, 1282 to Jan 1, 1308
New chapter house built
Days & months n/k. 1282–1308 New chapter house built. -
Jan 1, 1313
1313 stock-keepers account details sheep stocks and wool production revenue.
Day & month n/k. The stock-keeper’s account for 1313, transcribed in the chronicle, shows that the abbey then kept nearly 8,000 sheep. Wool production contributed to most of Thornton’s gross annual revenue of £1,543, comparable to that of a major nobleman. -
Jan 1, 1313
Gross annual income £1543
Day & month n/k. Gross annual income £1543 - comparable to that of a major nobleman. -
Period: Jan 1, 1322 to Jan 1, 1326
Enlargement of the cloister
Day & month n/k. Work carried out on enlargement of the cloister. -
Period: Jan 1, 1327 to Jan 1, 1328
Rebuilding of the refectory.
Day & month n/k. Rebuilding of the refectory. -
Jan 1, 1348
Construction of large granary
Day & month n/k. Construction of a large granary. -
Period: Jan 1, 1377 to Jan 1, 1382
Construction of the gatehouse
Day & month n/k. Construction of the gatehouse. -
Period: Jan 1, 1395 to Jan 1, 1418
Construction of a lady chapel at the east end of the church.
Day & month n/k. Construction of a lady chapel at the east end of the church. -
Jan 1, 1521
Thornton described as 'one of the goodliest houses' of Augustinian order in England.
Day & month n/k. In 1521 Thornton was described as ‘one of the goodliest houses’ of the Augustinian order in England.
Source: JS Brewer (ed), Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, 3:1 (London, 1867), p 510 (accessed 23 January 2013). -
Jan 1, 1534
Gross annual income £730
Day & month n/k. Gross annual income was £730, still a considerable sum. -
Dec 12, 1539
Thornton Abbey suppressed
Thornton Abbey was suppressed on 12 December 1539, but none of the buildings were despoiled immediately. -
Oct 1, 1541
Henry VIII and Catherine Howard stay at Thornton Abbey.
Day n/k. Early in October 1541 Henry VIII and Catherine Howard stay at Thornton Abbey. -
Dec 1, 1541
Thornton becomes college for training priests
Day n/k. Henry VIII selects Thornton, among a small group of elite religious houses that also included Westminster Abbey, as a college for training priests for service in the newly established Church of England. -
Jan 1, 1547
Thornton College suppressed by Edward VI
Day & month n/k. Thornton College suppressed under Edward VI. -
Period: Jan 1, 1547 to
Between 1547-1602 Thornton bought by Tyrwhitt family.
Date n/k. Some time between supression of college in 1547 and 1602 the property was purchased by the Tyrwhitt family. They appear to have occupied the cloister buildings and laid out an adjacent garden. -
Jan 28, 1547
Edward VI succeeds to the throne
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Jan 28, 1547
Henry VIII dies
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Site bought by Vincent Skinner.
Day & month n/k. In 1602 Vincent Skinner (c 1540–1616) bought the site. He was an ambitious reformer connected to the powerful William Cecil, Lord Burghley, chief adviser to Elizabeth I. Skinner was knighted in 1603 and then served until 1609 as Auditor of the Receipt, a high court office. The staunchly Puritan Skinner apparently demolished most of the abbey buildings, leaving the gatehouse as a foil to his impressive new house, begun in about 1607, plans of which survive -
Work begins on Vincent Skinner's manor house
Day & month n/k. Work begins on Vincent Skinner's manor house. Skinner apparently demolished most of the abbey buildings, leaving the gatehouse as a foil to his impressive new house, plans of which survive. -
Period: to
Skinner's manor house collapses
Date n/k. Skinner's manor house collapses. In 1697 the Lincolnshire diarist and antiquarian Abraham de la Pryme gloated that this ‘hall, when it was finished, fell quite down to the bare ground, without any visible cause and broke in pieces all the rich furniture that was therein’ -
Skinner dies in High Holborn debtors’ prison
Day & month n/k. Skinner dies in High Holborn debtors’ prison. -
Lady Anne Skinner recorded as living in Abbot's Lodge on Thornton site
Day & month n/k. Lincolnshire diarist and antiquarian Abraham de la Pryme records that by 1697 Lady Anne Skinner (d.1707), the wife of Sir Vincent’s grandson, was living in a ‘large but somewhat low hall’ converted from one of the abbey buildings. This house, now named Abbot’s Lodge, survives. -
1st Baron Yarborough acquires site and takes steps to stop roadstone quarrying.
Day & month n/k. In 1816 Charles Anderson-Pelham, 1st Baron Yarborough (1749–1823), acquired the site to stop the damage caused by quarrying for roadstone, and took steps to turn it into a park. -
1st Earl Yarborough instigates excavations of church and protects gatehouse
Day and month n/k. 1st Earl of Yarborough (1781–1846), son of 1st Baron Yarborough, instigated excavations in 1831 to expose the remains of the church, and reinstated the roof, floors and windows of the gatehouse, saving it from ruin. -
Period: to
Visitors use Thornton site and events held including temperance rallies
Days and months n/k. The 1st Earl encouraged visitors and sympathetic use of the site, including temperance movement rallies in 1848–51, attended by up to 19,000 people. -
First guide book produced at 1st Earl's suggestion
Day and month n/k. In 1851, following further excavations, the first guidebook was produced at the suggestion of the 1st Earl Yarborough. -
Period: to
2nd Earl Yarborough hosts summer week-long camps in North Bail.
Summer: exact days and months n/k. Each summer between 1866 and 1870 the 2nd Earl (1809–62), as commander of the Lincolnshire Light Horse, hosted a week-long army camp in the North Bail. -
4th Earl Yarborough constructs custodian's cottage
Day & month n/k. In 1900 the 4th Earl (1859–1936) constructed a purpose-built custodian’s cottage. -
Period: to
Further excavation work carried out (interrupted by WWII)
Excavations and works intended to refresh the understanding and presentation of the abbey began in 1936. These were interrupted by the Second World War and completed only in 1953. -
Yarborough family place site in state guardianship
Day & month n/k. In 1938 the family placed the site in state guardianship. -
Period: to
Sheffield University carry out archaeolical surveys and digs at Thornton
Summer/July: Headed by Dr Hugh Wilmott of Sheffield University, the site is excavated by a team of students and volunteers.
