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Growth and expansion (continued)
(4/15)
The home grange was generally the largest and closest
of the abbey granges. Whilst other granges were often leased out in the
later Middle Ages, the home grange was usually farmed directly by the
abbey. This was the case with Griff. At the time of the Dissolution it
was made up of 490 acres, 244 of which were pasture and 96 arable. Following
the dispersal of the monks Griff was leased to the Earl of Rutland. [Donkin,
'Cistercian grange', p. 96; Burton, 'The estates and economy', pp. 74-5.]
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Rievaulx’s home grange was on the site
of the destroyed village of Griff. It is not, however, clear if
the Cistercians themselves were responsible for evicting the locals
or if the monks simply took over an already deserted area.(7) Griff
(see map) was one of the abbey’s five main agricultural granges,
the other four being Newsham, Bilsdale, Laskill and Sproxton, which
were situated to the north and east of the abbey.(8) The
sheephouse at Sproxton was associated with Griff grange.(9)
Although granges were primarily intended as agricultural centres,
they were not all used for farming and some functioned as centres
for industrial work. Faweather (Bingley), in the West Riding of
Yorkshire, was associated with iron production, and the community
built forges on the banks of the R. Dove at Stainborough, several
miles from Barnsley.(10) In theory,
Cistercian granges were to be within one day’s journey of
the abbey, i.e. within about a fifteen-mile radius. This was to
make sure that whoever was stationed at the
grange could return to the abbey for services. In practice, however,
this was not always possible and some granges took several days
to reach. The journey to Stainborough, for example, would have
taken about three days.(11) A common
reason for establishing granges beyond the stipulated boundary
was competition from other religious
houses that held lands or had a grange in the area. This proximity
of lands might also bring about agreements between religious houses,
to clarify rights and boundaries. Such was the case in the mid-twelfth
century when Byland and Rievaulx
drew up an agreement about lands at Hesketh grange.(12) Resolution
was not always a peaceful process
and in the late twelfth century Abbot Silvan of
Rievaulx and Abbot Robert of Fountains came
to blows over land in Cleveland, where both communities had granges.
The two parties were eventually reconciled,
and agreed on boundaries and rights of way in this area.(13)
[read
more about Cistercian agriculture at Rievaulx]
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