Place Name
An anglicised version of de Luci. Richard de Luci (1089 – July 14, 1179) who founded nearby Lesnes Abbey. De Luci was first noted as High Sheriff of Essex. When Henry II came to the throne in 1154, de Luci was made Chief Justiciar of England jointly with Robert de Beaumont, Earl of Leicester. Holding on to the office in his own right when de Beaumont died in 1168. Lesnes Abbey was founded by de Luci as the Augustinian Abbey of St Mary and St Thomas the Martyr. It has been suggested that De Luci founded the abbey in penance for his role in the murder of Thomas Becket. Sometime between September 1178 and Easter of 1179, de Luci retired to Lesnes Abbey, where he died and was buried three months later. The abbey was closed by Thomas Cromwell in 1525.
