Molana Abbey: an alternative view

Abstract

SUMMARY: In a paper in the 2020 issue of Post-Medieval Archaeology Carter Hudgins and Eric Klingelhofer made the case for late 16th-century occupation of the Medieval monastery of Molana by the Elizabethan scientist Thomas Harriot. This present paper considers the evidence they put forward and offers a different interpretation. It is argued here that alterations to the masonry at Molana can mostly be attributed either to maintenance during the active life of the monastery, or to embellishments carried out in the 19th century. The evidence for post-Dissolution occupation of the site is slight, is limited to the church, and is interpreted as 18th-century reuse for religious worship.