1130s in England

Monarch – Henry I (to 1 December 1135), Stephen

• 1130
  • New choir of Canterbury Cathedral completed.[1]
• 1131
  • 8 September – the barons swear allegiance to Matilda as the true heir of Henry I of England.[2]
  • Cistercians found Rievaulx Abbey in Yorkshire.[1]
  • Gilbertine Order of nuns founded by Gilbert of Sempringham in Lincolnshire, the only completely English religious order.[3]
• 1132
  • Benedictines found Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire.[4]
• 1133
  • August – King Henry I leaves England for the last time for Normandy.
  • A royal charter establishes the first annual Bartholomew Fair at Smithfield, London; later to become England's largest cloth fair.[1]
  • First Bishop of Carlisle (Æthelwold) consecrated.[1]
  • Rebuilt Exeter Cathedral consecrated.
• 1135
  • 26 May – the Great Fire of 1135 destroys the wooden London Bridge[5] and seriously damages St Paul's Cathedral.
  • 1 December – King Henry I dies (at Lyons-la-Forêt in Normandy) having nominated Matilda as his heir.[2]
  • 22 December – Stephen of Blois, nephew of Henry I, claims the throne.[2]
  • 26 December – coronation of Stephen of England at Westminster Abbey[2] by William de Corbeil, Archbishop of Canterbury.
  • Bruton Abbey, Buildwas Abbey and Byland Abbey founded, the latter in January by the Congregation of Savigny.[6]
• 1136
  • 1 January – revolt in Wales; Welsh capture Swansea and Cardigan from the Normans.[1]
  • 4 January – Henry I is buried in his foundation, Reading Abbey (tomb dedicated 1 December).
  • 5 February – by the Treaty of Durham, Stephen concedes Cumberland to David I of Scotland.[1]
  • Hospital of St Cross, an almshouse in Winchester, is established by Bishop Henry of Blois; it will still be functioning in the 21st century.
  • Geoffrey of Monmouth writes Historia Regum Britanniae.[1]
• 1137
  • March – Stephen fails in his attempt to re-capture Normandy from Matilda.[1]
  • 3 June – a fire severely damages Rochester Cathedral, but it is soon rebuilt.[7]
  • 4 June – a fire destroys much of the city of York, including 39 churches and York Minster, but the latter is soon rebuilt.[7]
  • 27 June – a fire severely damages the city of Bath, Somerset.[7]
• 1138
  • January–February – King David I of Scotland raids Northumberland, taking the Bishop of Durham's Norham Castle (garrisoned only by nine), and besieges the castle at Wark on Tweed.[8]
  • 10 April – Robert Warelwast is nominated as Bishop of Exeter.
  • May – The Anarchy: Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester, leads a rebellion against King Stephen in favour of his half-sister Matilda.[2]
  • 10 June – Battle of Clitheroe: Having harried Craven in Yorkshire, David I of Scotland's nephew William fitz Duncan meets and defeats an English force on the edge of the Bowland Fells.[8]
  • 22 August – Battle of the Standard: English army defeats that of David I of Scotland at Cowton Moor near Northallerton in Yorkshire.[1]
  • December – Legatine conference in Westminster led by Alberic of Ostia.
  • Alcester Abbey and Bourne Abbey established.
• 1139
  • 8 January – Theobald of Bec enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury.
  • 9 April – the second Treaty of Durham between King Stephen of England and David I of Scotland; David's son Earl Henry takes control of most of Northumberland, excluding Bamburgh and Newcastle upon Tyne.[1]
  • June – Stephen orders the arrest of Roger of Salisbury, Justiciar and Bishop of Salisbury, and Alexander of Lincoln, Bishop of Lincoln.[2]
  • 30 September – The Anarchy: Empress Matilda lands near Arundel to begin her campaign to regain the throne from Stephen.[2]
  • 7 November – The Anarchy: Gloucester's army sacks Worcester.[1]
  • King's School, Pontefract, founded.

• 1130
  • Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (died 1176)
• 1133
  • 5 March – King Henry II of England (died 1189)
• 1136
  • William of Newburgh, historian (died c. 1198)

• year unknown, after 1130
  • Robert of Bellême, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury (born 1052)
• 1130
  • Maud, Countess of Huntingdon (born 1074)
• 1134
  • 28 March – Stephen Harding, Abbot of Cîteaux and saint (born c. 1050)
  • Biddenden Maids, supposed earliest known conjoined twins (born 1100)
• 1135
  • 1 December – King Henry I of England (born c. 1068)
• 1136
  • 15 April – Richard de Clare, 1st Earl of Hertford (born 1094)
  • 21 November – William de Corbeil, Archbishop of Canterbury (born c. 1070 in the Île-de-France)
• 1137
  • 10 July – Pain fitzJohn, nobleman and royal administrator (killed in ambush)
  • c. 26 September – William Warelwast, Bishop of Exeter and diplomat
• 1138
  • 11 May – William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey
• 1139
  • 11 December – Roger of Salisbury, bishop and Lord Chancellor