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of England. A.D. 1127, and was endowed with the lordship of
Furness, and many royal privileges. It was peopled from the
monastery of Savigny in Normandy, and dedicated to St. Mary. In
ancient writings it is styled St. Marye's of Furness. The monks
were of the order of Savigny, and their dress was grey cloth; but
on receiving St. Bernard's form, they changed from grey to white,
and became Cistercians; and such they remained till the
dissolution of the monasteries.
The situation of this abbey, so favourable to a contemplative
life, justifies the choice of the first settlers. Such a
sequestered site, in the bottom of a deep dell, through which a
hasty brook rolls its murmuring stream, and along which the
roaring west wind would often blow, joined with the deep-toned
matin song, must have been very favourable to the solemn
melancholy of a monastic life.
To prevent surprise, and call in assistance, a beacon was placed
on the crown of an eminence that rises immediately from the
Abbey, and is seen all over Low-Furness. The door leading to the
beacon is still remaining in the inclosure-wall, on the eastern
side. The magnitude of the Abbey may be known from the dimensions
of the ruins; and enough is standing to show the style of the
architec-
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