Burton Abbey

Burton Abbey at Burton upon Trent in Staffordshire, England, was originally founded in the 7th or 9th century by St Modwen or Modwenna; and later refounded in 1003 as a Benedictine abbey by Wulfric Spott, a thegn possibly descended from King Alfred. He was known to have been buried in the abbey cloister in 1010, alongside the grave of his wife.

History

Burton Abbey was mentioned in the Domesday book when it was said to control lands in Mickleover, Appleby Magna in Leicestershire, Winshill and Stapenhill in Staffordshire, Coton in the Elms, Caldwell and Ticknall. The abbey itself was neither large nor wealthy and in 1310 was claimed to be the smallest and poorest Benedictine monastery in England by the monks. It suffered frequent financial troubles throughout its existence, often due to mismanagement and outright criminal behaviour, though the situation seems to have been resolved by the 16th century.

In the 13th to 14th centuries there were around thirty monks in residence though this had fallen off to almost half the number by the 1520s.