Selby Abbey test

In 1069, Baron Ilbert de Lacy, Lord of Pontefract, granted the building of Selby Abbey. Founded by Benedict of Auxerre, it was the first Norman Abbey to be built in the North of England; Ilbert had granted the manor of Hambleton to Selby Abbey. Only the degree of mutual trust that Ilbert had established with the local population allowed the building to commence so soon after the “Harrowing of the North”. His youngest son Hugh entered the abbey clergy as a novice, and he eventually became the second abbot of Selby Abbey in 1097 and held the office until he died in 1123.
For my American de Lacy family and friends, you will find the Abbey connection with George Washington interesting. You will see the Washington Window above the chancel in the south clerestory. Following an endowment in the 14th century to the Abbey by the Washington family, the 14th-century Washington coat of arms contains three stars above red and white stripes. It is one of the first known representations of the patterns of stars and stripes later used for the US flag. Today, only its grandeur speaks of the glorious past of the Anglican parish church in the centre of Selby, England. Here is a link to the Washington window

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