110. BIDDLESDEN.

(O.S. 6 in. vii. S.E.)

Ecclesiastical

(1). Parish Church of St. Margaret, in Biddlesden Park, was built in the 18th century. In the churchyard is a 14th-century gravestone from Biddlesden Abbey (see (2)).

Fittings—Monument: In the churchyard—fragments of gravestone, with heavy Gothic capitals, inlaid in lead, only the letters 'R.G.T.' legible, 14th-century. Plate: includes cup of silver, parcel-gilt, presented in 1702.

Condition—Of gravestone, very bad.

Secular

(2). Biddlesden Abbey, remains at Biddlesden House, N. of the parish church. The house is on the site of the Cistercian abbey founded in 1147, and was built in the 18th century, when nearly all remaining traces of the monastic buildings were destroyed. Some of the foundations of the abbey are said to exist N. of the house, on a site partly covered by outbuildings. In a yard near one of the barns are some worked stones and a few voussoirs of a moulded arch of late 13th-century date.

Condition—Fragmentary.

(3). Biddlesden Farm, or Manor House, about 700 yards E.S.E. of the church, is a house of two storeys and an attic: the walls are of stone; the roof is tiled. It was built probably late in the 17th century on a rectangular plan, facing W., and was lengthened towards the N., probably in the 18th century. At each end of the original building is a chimney stack of thin bricks. Some of the rooms have original ceiling-beams.

A barn N.E. of the house is probably contemporary with it; the walls are of stone.

Condition—Good.