Pipewell Abbey

It was established in 1143 by William Butevilain as a daughter house of Newminster Abbey in Northumberland.

[1] The Abbey also held properties in the neighbouring county of Warwickshire, in the area of Rugby, which was then a small village, the monks had several granges at the villages of Cawston, Thurlaston, Little Lawford and Long Lawford and Rugby, with other properties at Bilton, Newbold-on-Avon, Toft, and possibly Church Lawford.

The Cawston Grange was the largest and most valuable of their Warwickshire properties, and became the base of their operations there.

[2] During the dissolution of the monasteries in 1538 the Abbey and its properties were seized by the Crown and sold off; the Abbey at Pipewell was sold to Sir William Parr, and in 1675, Pipewell Hall was built nearby from the stones of the Abbey.

[1] The Boughton family purchased many of the Warwickshire properties, including Cawston, Bilton, Little and Long Lawford, and Newbold.