During the Dissolution of the Monasteries , the abbey became involved in the uprisings against this act and the abbot , Matthew Mackarel , said to have been one of the leaders of the Pilgrimage of Grace in Lincolnshire , and six of the canons were subsequently hanged and quartered . The supposed complicity of Abbot Mackarel , like that of other heads of religious houses , gave Henry VIII the opportunity of laying hands upon the Abbey of Barlings and of placing it under the law of attainder . The abbey was closed and the remainder of the canons expelled with little compensation due to the activities of their condemned brethren . The abbey church was defaced , the lead torn from the roofs , and melted down under the special direction of Cromwell . The property passed to the Duke of Suffolk
Pilgrimage of Grace
Pilgrimage of Grace
Barlings Abbey