In 1138 Newminster Abbey was established close to the River Wansbeck on the edge of Morpeth, Northumberland. The first inhabitants were Cistercian monks from Fountains Abbey, in Yorkshire, who remained until the abbey’s dissolution in 1537. By the 19th century little could be seen apart from scattered masonry and bumps in the ground. Early in the 20th century parts were rebuilt as a grand garden ornament and tourist attraction, with perhaps not quite the academic rigour one might expect today.

In 1912 a 25 acre parcel of land, which included Newminster Abbey and a house called Spring Hill, was bought by George Renwick. Renwick (1850-1931) was a wealthy ship-owner who had entered politics and sat for various Newcastle seats up until 1922. He was created a baronet in 1921.

Renwick extended Spring Hill, which looked down to the site of the ancient Newminster Abbey (it was later renamed Newminster Abbey House), and began to excavate the abbey ruins, where for at least a century little had been visible above ground.

The one visible structure was this arch, noted in the early 19th century as the ‘last remaining arch of Newminster Abbey’.

Renwick’s excavations revealed artefacts, burial sites and large quantities of masonry hidden under the earth and rubble. A hoard of silver coins dating from the 11th and 12th centuries was discovered and donated to the British Museum in 1926. Renwick dug up the genuine fragments and used them, like a giant mediaeval Lego set, to create ‘beautiful arcading’.

Sir George invited the members of Morpeth Town Council to his home to see the work, and explained that he hoped that the ‘long hidden portions of the once famous Abbey’ might attract visitors to the town.

Residents were granted free access on condition that they used the ‘proper footpath’, and supported him in protecting the abbey ruins from damage and destruction. The picturesque reassembled ruins became the subject of many a picture postcard.

At that date no-one seems to have been particularly concerned that the ancient remains were being reconstructed as a garden ornament, although one can read between the lines of the carefully worded report that ‘extensive amateur excavation and rebuilding has taken place’.

Sadly, there is no public access to the overgrown grade II listed ruins for the townsperson or tourist of today. The site is privately-owned and hidden from view by trees and shrubs.

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