Project Information

Project now Finished

The Department of Archaeology, University of Bristol carried out six annual seasons of excavation atL'Abbaye de Grosbot, Charras, Charante, France between 1996-2002. The project was directed by Dr Mark Horton.

Grosbot is a privately-owned Cisterican Abbey located on the northern borders of the Dordogne. It is set among woodlands and countryside in the heart of rural France. The church and claustral buildings survive almost complete, and the abbey represents an excellent example of a small Cistercian Abbey which continued until the French Revolution of 1789.

The project is mainly focused in an area to the east of the Church, where we have located a complex of infirmary buildings and what appears to be a mausoleum or private chapel for the lay benefactors to the Abbey.  A number of burials were found, many very unusual.

In addition to the excavation, a field survey of the surrounding landscape is being undertaken, and this includes studies of farms and granges that were supplying the Abbey. A programme of dendrochronology on these farm buildings provided firm dating evidence.

Further information is available from Dr Mark Horton, Department of Archaeology, University of Bristol, 43 Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1UU. Email: Mark.Horton@bristol.ac.uk

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MA Historical Archaeology