| has gloss | eng: Stratford Langthorne Abbey, or the Abbey of St Marys, Stratford Langthorne was a Cistercian monastery founded in 1135 at Stratford Langthorne — then Essex but now Stratford in the London Borough of Newham. The Abbey, also known as West Ham Abbey as it lay in that parish, was one of the largest Cistercian abbeys in England, possessing of local land, controlling over 20 manors throughout Essex. The Abbey was self sufficient for its needs and wealthy besides; some of this wealth came from the ecclesiastic mills grinding wheat for local bakers to supply bread to the City of London. This later led to competition with the Guild of Bakers, who sought powers to levy a toll on loaves entering the City at Whitechapel. History Foundation In a charter dated 25 July 1135, William de Montfichet granted the monks all his lordship of (West) Ham, of meadow, two mills by the causeway of Stratford, his wood of Buckhurst and the tithe of his pannage. |
