Leiston old abbey is identified with that of a ruined chapel at Minsmere, which stands near the sea on a marsh-girt island approached by a causeway from Eastbridge. This belief, long uncertain, gained support from aerial photography which appeared to show cropmarks suggesting an extensive complex there. It has since been shown that the chapel was not part of the original abbey, but was constructed on the site of the original monastery church soon after its removal in 1363. The suggestion was made by Alfred Suckling in 1848 that Ranulf may have chosen a site which had been used for religious purposes in Anglo-Saxon times. Foundation Before 1179 (in the presence of Richard de Luci) Henry II granted to Ranulf the manor of Leiston. He sought advice from the abbot of Welbeck Abbey, Nottinghamshire (a Premonstratensian house founded in 1140), who with the king's support visited Prémontré Abbey to obtain permission for Robert, abbot of Durford Abbey near Rogate, Sussex (founded from Welbeck after 1161), to transfer to Ranulf's abbey at Leiston. Robert borrowed canons from both Durford and Welbeck, apparently because Ranulf did not wish Leiston to owe any exaction to a senior house. One of these laid out the site over the course of two months. The manor of Leiston was confirmed to the canons by Pope Lucius III, and royal confirmation of the foundation was granted early in 1185, at which time the abbey church was already built. In this process Leiston Abbey exchanged its church of Knodishall for those of Aldringham and Leiston, formerly held by Butley Priory. An extensive series of foundation charters exists, including the confirmation by Archbishop Hubert Walter, Ranulf's nephew, of a Privilege of Pope Celestine III, granting, among many other rights, that of the free election of their abbot. Descent of patronage, 1190-1351 In these and subsequent grants and confirmations Ranulf's family took part as witnesses and grantors, the de Valoines and Walters, the Glanvilles, and the families of his sons-in-law, the de Aubervilles, the de Ardenes and the fitz Ralphs. Roger de Glanvill granted the church at Middleton and William de Valoines that of St Botolph at Culpho. Ranulf died at the Siege of Acre in 1190, and the patronage of Leiston Abbey and of Butley Priory, with the manor of Benhall, passed to his daughter Matilda (Maud), wife of William de Auberville the elder, of Westenhanger, Kent, justiciar and