Holm Cultram Abbey: A Story of Success?

Review of periodical literature published in 2008

“…Smith adds to his earlier discussion of vaccaries in Sowerby Graveship by offering a further discussion of one vaccary within the Graveship, Cruttonstall, and suggests that, on a re‐estimation of its extent, the early fourteenth‐century vaccary is still reflected in the modern field area, including clear evidence for a double‐oval pattern familiar from vaccaries elsewhere. Jamroziak reveals how a cross‐border lordship, in this instance the Abbey of Holm Cultram in Cumbria, managed to make some success from the regional economy, even during a period of major disruption in the long thirteenth century which certainly did impede its economic progress; the abbey, as well as establishing a range of economic activities including arable and pastoral husbandry, salt‐panning, fishing, and investment in urban property, also managed to attract lay support and patronage from both sides of the Anglo‐Scottish border.…”