ABSTRACT
The three Cistercian houses in northern Staffordshire were all of the Savigniac line; Hulton and Dieulacres from Combermere (Cheshire) and Croxden from Aunay-sur-Odon (Normandy). Hulton and Dieulacres were founded within five years of each other and a new church was built at Croxden after 1220. The whole area of the upper Trent, including the modern city of Stoke-on-Trent and the borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, had been part of the Staff-ordshire 'New Forest' in the 12th century, disafforested by King John in 1204. Pastoralism was the dominant form of farming in this region. Wool was an important cash crop, though arable was also carried out on a small scale. Benedictine monasteries were known for their elaborate and time consuming liturgies which required a lot of space at the east end of their churches. The short length of the nave meant that the south wall had to be continued to the west to join the west range and seal off the cloister.
