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 Milo, 1st Earl of Hereford was killed during a hunting in the Forest of Dean in 1143. The monks who built the abbey came from Bordesley Abbey founded in Worcestershire in 1138. In the late 12th century, it was noted that Pope Celestine III and Pope Alexander III granted the monks of Flaxley Abbey special immunity from tithes. The monastery came under royal protection during the reign of King Henry II and was used as a royal hunting quarters. In 1227 King Henry III gave a grant to Flaxley Abbey to the woods, called Abbot's Woods. King Edward III, who paid frequent visits to Flaxley Abbey, granted to Flaxley Abbey income from the rents and profits of the lands of the Forest of Dean in 1353.
Flaxley Abbey was purchased in 1648 by the London merchant, lawyer and philosopher James Boevey, with his half-brother William. Later resident Catherina Boevey, an inheritance from her short marriage to William Boevey, passed the house to Thomas Crawley at her death in 1727. The family was created as the Crawley-Boevey Baronets on 22 January 1784. During this time the house was substantially rebuilt by the designs of architect Anthony Keck. As baronets the manor and the estate continued to pass down from father to eldest son. Flaxley Abbey remained as the family home until 1960.
Gardens and landscape
After the death of William Boevey, his wife Catherina Boevey completed Dutch-style gardens on the grounds of Flaxley Abbey. It is said that Maynard I Colchester, a close friend of Catherina, was influenced by her own canal gardens for his Westbury Court Garden. The layout of the gardens and improvements to Flaxley Abbey were continued by her after her husband's death. However, due to the modification of the land, the Dutch-style gardens at Flaxley Abbey were eventually removed. Between 1962 and 1963 a new modern style garden as well as the manor's interior were redesigned by Tony Award winning theater and set designer Oliver Messel.
Matilda Blanche Crawley-Boevey, wife of famed Victorian businessman William Gibbs of Tyntesfield and daughter of Sir Thomas Crawley-Boevey, 3rd Baronet.
Arthur William Crawley-Boevey, author, Acting Chief Presidency Magistrate of Bombay, married daughter of Colonel Robert Phayre, in 1883. Service in India from 1868 to 1893. Author of The Cartulary and Historical Notes of the Cistercian Abbey of Flaxley . Son of Sir Martin Hyde Crawley-Boevey, 4th Baronet.
Sybella Mary Crawley-Boevey, Victorian author, author of Dene Forest Sketches, Beyond Cloudland and Conscience Makes the Martyr. Daughter of Sir Martin Hyde Crawley-Boevey, 4th Baronet.
