Blanche Parry

Abbeydore

Named for the Cistercian Abbey, whose boundaries can be seen under the bank on the far side of the field behind chancel,along the road from the lych gate, past Dore Hamlets and following the ditch to the right of the minor road.

Dore Abbey, now the Church: St. Mary

Dore originates from the Welsh dwr / water, the name of the river.

It was built as a Cistercian Abbey, under the patronage of Robert of Ewyas (see Ewyas Harold). In the 1630s John, Viscount Scudamore paid for the Church to be restored and it is now the best example of a Laudian Church surviving in England. (See: Guidebook and Shoesmith & Richardson)

  • The present Church was once the chancel, crossing and transepts of the medieval Cistercian monastery whose domestic buildings and chapter house can still be traced.
  • The cloister garden is a lovely place to sit to enjoy the tranquillity of the site.
  • The white robed monks first came here in 1147 and their skill in gardening is commemorated in the stylised foliage of the capitals, which would originally have been painted.
  • By the 13th–14th centuries the wool from Dore's sheep was the best quality in Europe, fetching the highest prices and selling as far away as Italy. It was used as a template of quality for other wool clips. The profit paid for the Church to be enlarged, decorated and re–painted.
  • Blanche Parry's father was the Steward who administered the abbey's business in the 15th century. Her great-grandfather had been the first lay Steward and her step-father was the last Steward.
  • Blanche's family were interconnected with all the local gentry families of the March and these included her cousins, the Cecil / Sisilt / Sysilt family of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley. Gerald Sitsilt was buried in Dore Abbey in the 13th century and his son, Owen, was a monk here. Baldwin Sitsylt was a benefactor, giving lands and liberties to Dore, while Thomas Sitsylt (Burghley's great–great–great–grandfather) cancelled a considerable debt owed to him by the monks. (See: Walterstone Church)
  • See: King John & Dore Abbey for Abbot Adam's difficulties with the king.
  • After the Dissolution of the Monasteries by King Henry VIII, the building was saved from total destruction by sympathetic king's commissioners. They allowed the bosses to be carefully removed from the medieval ceiling, for falling that distance would have destroyed them.
  • The Church was restored in the 1630s by John, Viscount Scudamore. It is a rare, surviving example of a Laudian Church and the first where evidence for painted wood carving, here on the Screen and Gallery, have been found. The benches, other furniture and artefacts have also survived. Scudamore's restoration also reinstated the original medieval altar top, or mensa.
  • The words of the wall texts, dating from the 1630s and later 1700–1710, show what took place in different parts of the Abbey at that time.
  • Fragments of medieval stained–glass can be seen. The later east end windows are newly restored.
  • The six bells were originally cast in 1710/1712 by the first Abraham Rudhall at his Gloucester foundry. Four were recast: the treble by Thomas Rudhall in 1770, the tenor by Charles and John Rudhall in 1782, the fourth by Thomas Rudhall in 1810, and the second by Llewellins and James in Bristol in 1892.

Riverdale

This name is modern, from the 1970s, when the buildings were converted into houses.

The original name was Dore Poor Law Union which became The Dore and Bredwardine Workhouse.

  • It operated as a workhouse from 1837, originally for 80 to 100 people, until closing in 1930.
  • The premises then became a council-run Public Assistance Institution.
  • In World War II (1939-1945) the buildings were used as an assembly area for Allis‐Chalmers tractors, imported from the USA, and brought by train to Bacton Railway Station.
  • As a Workhouse: The 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act enacted legislation for the whole country. The aim was to house, feed and clothe paupers. Children received some education often through the local school where they stood out due to all wearing similar clothes. (A child's boot is in the attic of The Gables ‐ placed there to prevent his/her ghost walking...)
  • The Government's aim was to remove beggars from the streets, but to house them as cheaply as possible. The inmates had to work in the workhouse to keep costs low.
  • See: 'Oliver Twist' by Charles Dickens.
  • Workhouses were hated and feared and there were riots. Towns could house 1,000 or more people in one workhouse and they often had several. Men were separated from women, with meagre provision to keep married couples together. Children were housed together so their mothers could work.
  • There is an account of a benefactor wishing to donate toys for the children living in Dore and Bredwardine workhouse. This was refused, the reason being that such activity would cause the children to eat more.
  • Undoubtedly, the system was better than nothing at all but it carried huge stigmas with it.
  • See:
  • This was Indoor Relief and was eventually superceded by Outdoor Relief when the Liberal Chancellor of the Exchequer, David Lloyd George, introduced The Old‐Age Pensions Act 1908. Determined to 'lift the shadow of the workhouse from the homes of the poor', this was the beginnings of the welfare state.
  • Poor people either lived in tied cottages, like farm labourers, or in rented ones belonging to the employer. It was convenient to evict workers who were too old to make way for replacement employees. Lloyd‐George provided a pension of between 1 and 5 shillings per week to each person over 70 years of age. This brought them dignity and reduced anxiety in old age. He was loved for it.
  • His 1911 National Insurance Act provided workers with insurance against illness and unemployment.
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