In 697, the substantial abbey at Beardeneu (Bardney) received the relics of King Oswald of Northumbria, who had been killed in battle against King Penda of Mercia in c.642. As Oswald had once ruled over the province of Lindsey, and was regarded as a foreigner, the relics were initially not allowed into the compound, and were left outside the gate for the night on a cart. According to Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastia Gentis Anglorum (c.731), the only source, a shaft of light then shot up to heaven from the wagon containing them.

The monks responded by accepting the relics, and dedicated a shrine to Oswald, the Abbot declaring that in future all travellers should be admitted, and the locks removed from the doors. This eventually led to the birth of the saying ‘Do you come from Bardney?’ (and variations thereof), uttered to chide those who leave doors open, and which inadvertently keeps the story alive in a secular folk tradition.

The history, supposed miracle, and its idiomatic legacy are sources of local pride. For example, in 2025, Bardney Primary School (the motto of which is ‘opening the doors of learning’) staged a school play about it all. The village sign bears a depiction of the open door leading to the village church (not the Abbey), the route partially blocked by a propeller – symbolising the Second World War airfield of RAF Bardney, which is nearby.

There is a barrow mound near the abbey site, often called King’s Hill and traditionally believed (without evidence) to contain, or to have contained, the body of a king – King Ethelred of Mercia, according to a the antiquarian William Marrat (1814), who goes no further than to acknowledge that this is what ‘tradition says’. Ethelred was an early abbot and benefactor. King’s Hill is visible from the B1202 road, a quarter of a mile east of the Abbey site and connected to it by a footpath. Bardney Abbey was destroyed by the Danes in about 890, and re-established in the late eleventh century; there is no evidence it was rebuilt in the same place. The site is well worth wandering around, though there is little visible stonework.

Project lead Rory Waterman discusses the legend in this episode of BBC Secret Lincolnshire (2025). Some excellent drone footage of the abbey ruins, captured by Martin Whitworth, was featured by The Lincolnite:

Bardney Abbey is sometimes confused with Tupholme Abbey, a few miles to the east, which is an evocative ruin and is also easy to visit. There is a good, and well-labelled, permanent exhibition of carved stone from the excavation of Bardney Abbey in 1909-13 in the village church.

Words by RORY WATERMAN