From the side of the west front you see this image:
You can see were the wall would have been when it was a monastery
The church from the front has three main arches but it was changed and a third of the church became a prop for the extension on the house so the church would have been third bigger as you can see from the pictures of the front and the back:
I can show you also from the back of the of the house where it has been joint together:
When Newstead was a monastery the church was the main part of the monks time table and they went to the church about 6 times a day.
The Undercroft was the coldest room in the monastery as it was were the food was kept to keep cool. The byron family didn’t cover this room with wood panelling as they did most of the rest as they must of used it for themselves.
In the undercroft they only have a few windows and the windows are also very small and the walls are approximately 1 metre thick and this was because they didn’t a lot of sun and heat getting though and kept the room cold.
At the other end of the Undercroft are some stairs and up the stairs there is a smallist room which was the cellaruir were the cellarer used to make sure there was food and drink in the monastery.
When Newstead was an monastery The Great Hall was the main entrance into the monastery and it took you straight upto the first floor and into the Great Hall but when the monastery was dissolved and changed into a house the steps were removed and now the main entrance is straight into the undercroft.
In the Great Hall there are three windows but when it was a monastery there was only one.
The Great Hall has now got animal heads on the wall and that was because one of the owners mr Webb was an African explorer and he had them put up and they are still on the walls today. Also in the Great Hall there is wooden panelling a all over the walls but they won’t there when it was a monastery it was just brick and the wooden panelling was to make the house warmer.
As you can see from this pictures below
This door way was used as a door way to down to the cloisters but it was blocked off like a lot of the door way have.
The prior’s parlour was the head of the monastery own room were he would watch and talk to this guest’s it was also used if the king came so he could talk to the head of the monastery. Also in the prior’s parlour in the far left hand corner is the Abbott’s (head of the monastery) own toilet that was a calle the garderobe but now it is just a big drop the garderobe also show how the priory was and show how important the visitors were and he would run the monastery and meet tradesman and guest’s
This the pictures of the abbot’s toilet (garderobe):
Now the prior’s parlour is a small dinning room. Sir john byron the first byron owner brough a impressive overmantel from his own home Colwick Hall. The overmantel was of tudor time so the over mantel had to be fairly new as henry VIII was king at the time.
This is a pictures of the over mantel
Newstead abbey’s cloister is the best remaining cloister in the united kingdom as the rest have been demolisted and started again. The cloister is a square walk way were the monks and the lay brothers would walk around to keep themselves warm.
The Lavatorium was a place where the monks and the lay brothers had towash their hands and face before going to the refectory the eat their meals. The archway that leads to the lavatorium has also been blocked up this is what it looks like now
The hidden stairway are called the day stairs and they were used at meal time after the monks and the lay brothers had wash they would make their way up the day stairs that lead to the refectory this pictures shows you the columns that supported the stairs and they dated back to the 13th century
All around the cloister there are lots and lots of blocked archways which include the archway to the kitchen and the refectory
The door way on the right is only the top of the archway and this is because when it was a monastery there were steps leading down to the bottom of the archway but after it was dissolved the steps were concreted over so that it was just one level.
The hidden door way to the refectory and that is on the left of the picture that also has been blocked up but when it was a monastery they must have been step leading you up to the doorway and also the roof must have been lowered because you can see the top of the doorway.
The garth is a smallish square garden that the monks used to grow herbs to use in food and they also used the herbs for medicine for
their ill monks and their guest’s now in the centre of the garth is a fountain which wasn’t there when it was a monastery it was at the front of the house but the byron family moved it. The garth is in the centre of the house and this is a picture:
The refectory was were the monk and the lay brothers eat every meal together now the refectory is called the salon wildmans great drawing-room. The refectory was also panelled over but the owners now have removed a rectangular piece of panelling to show the wall before the the wooden panelling was put up and as you can see from this picture that there is a quite fancy border that shows that the monks were weighty but only though the king henry II as he was the one that founded newstead and he built it in memory of his grandfather and an atonemebt for the murder of Thomas a Becket.
When Newstead was a monastery they had a room called the Chapter House, the monks used the Chapter House to pray and spent time reading the bible. In the chapter house there are 25 arches and there was one for every monk so there must of only been 25 monks in the monastery at one time. The Chapter House wasn’t decorated like it is now and they didn’t have decoration
On the entrance arch way
They decorated the Chapter House in the 19th century . In the Chapter House as is shown in the pictures is an original centre column which is a very good example of the gothic style this shows you what I mean:
The Slype is a smallish room that you have to do some step to reach it. When Newstead was a monastery the Slype was were the monks prepared for the burials and would freshen up the bodies. The Slype would have lead to the graveyard but Mrs Webb changed the graveyard to a maze garden and is now called the Spanish gardens. But when the 6th lord Byron lived there he used it as a pool where him and his dog boatswain would spend time swimming.
This are the steps and the Slype.
The processional archway is another blocked doorway and it also led into the church, it was also where the night stairs enter the church for when the monks went to pray in the early hours in the morning. This would have been one of the main archway’s to the church as it had steps leading up also as you can see from all the block up doorways they are blocked with robbed out stone from the church when it was removed.
The gardens were designed by Mrs Webb these include the Japanese gardens and the Spanish garden. The gardens are very colourful and pretty and were designed with good imagination. There are also a number of ponds which include the eagle pond and it got its name from the monks as they threw a eagle shaped Lactern into the pond to hide from Henry VIII men when they came and dissolved it, it is now in the south well Minster. Also eagle pond would not of been so rectangular as the monks wouldn’t have had slabs around the edges, it would have jus been a muddy slope’s. it was used to keep fish so they could eat.
St Mary’s well is a round well bat the end of the stew pond the well was were they took the fresh water from to drink. The stew pond was where the monks kept fish to store for the Friday and festivals as they wasn’t allowed meat and they didn’t class fish as a meat. the stew pond was also used to breed fish so they had more and more to eat. The stew pond was a good place for it to be has it was near the kitchen so they didn’t have to keep going so far to get the fish.
Also in the gardens the Byron family used robbed out stone from the church.
Newstead abbey was placed in a very good area as it has forest all around. The forest was used for hunting for fun and hunting for food the king would also hunt when visiting and staying at the abbey. The forest was also good for wood to use for the flooring and skirting borders and the forest was very quiet so the minks had no trouble praying anytime they wanted and it is very close to the river Leen.
The Byron family where the first owners of Newstead after it closer by Henry VIII. The Byron were ordered to can it from a monastery into a house and Henry VIII told them they must make it look as if it was never a religious place and in return they would get the abbey but the Byron’s weren’t as wealthy as other owners of the abbeys like Rufford abbey they was able to restart the building again and that is why the cloister is the best remaining cloister in the united kingdom today , so Henry VIII removed the roof of the church and the Byron did the rest as they had to make it look like a none religious place and from the stone from the church they used around the house and the gardens and this is called robbing out and that was that the Byrons did. The most famous Byron were the wicked lord Byron who wasn’t a very nice man as he used all his wives money on travelling and himself he ruined Newstead and he became in financial difficulty and had to pass it down to his next relation in the family the 6th lord Byron and he was and is the most famous owner of the abbey as he was a poet and was very Romantic. The 6th lord Byron was the last member of the Byron’s to own Newstead as he had to leave the country and he became in financial difficulty also so he had to sell Newstead and moved to Greece but the abbey was brought by a family called the Wildman family and they saved the monastery from ruins and made it what it is today.
The evidence that Newstead abbey started as a priory is quiet amazing to say the family that owned Newstead in the passed, but people should of despised Henry VIII but also thank him forgiving Newstead to a family with money but not a lot so they is still a lot of evidence that is still there now and this includes the West Front, all the different room around the house and the cloisters and plus all of the doorways that have been blocked up using robbed out stone
