[3] Flaxley Abbey was founded in 1151 by Roger Fitzmiles, 2nd Earl of Hereford as a Cistercian monastery.

It was allegedly founded on the spot where his father, Miles of Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford, was killed while hunting in the Forest of Dean in 1143.

On 21 March 1537 the abbey and its lands were granted to Sir William Kingston, Constable of the Tower of London during much of the reign of Henry VIII, who superintended the execution of Queen Anne Boleyn.

Flaxley Abbey was purchased in 1648 by the London merchant, lawyer and philosopher James Boevey (1622–1696), with his half-brother William.

[6] The family succeeded by special remainder to the Crawley-Boevey baronetcy (created in 1784 for Sir Charles Barrow, 1st Baronet[7] who died 1789).