[6] A group of Benedictine monks, dependent upon Ely Abbey, moved here from their water-logged monastery at Elmeney (a vanished settlement about a mile to the northeast) in the 1150s, at the suggestion of Conan IV, Duke of Brittany.

[7] By the end of that century, the Knights had lost their power, and in 1308 King Edward II had all the members of the Order arrested and imprisoned for alleged heresy, confiscating their property.

The priory was expanded in this period, with comfortable quarters for the Countess, who never entered the Poor Clares, and spartan accommodation for the nuns.

The Countess of Pembroke died in 1377 and was buried before the high altar of the nuns' church in Denny Abbey, but the precise location of her grave is now lost.

The Abbess's lodge, originally built for the Countess, was retained as a farmhouse, and the Refectory as a barn, but the nave was demolished.

The abbey, nuns' refectory and surrounding land remained a farm until they were leased in 1947 to the Ministry of Works, which later transferred them to English Heritage.

The Farmland Museum, which opened in 1997, has a shop, café and an education centre, running courses for local schools.

It was at Haddenham where interviews were made in the 1970s with local farming people, recording their stories dating back to the beginning of the 20th century.

[12] The whole site, known as The Farmland Museum and Denny Abbey, is open from April to October, and there are regular special event days.