 The name Combermere means "lake of the Cumbri" – from "Cymru", the native Welsh name for Wales – and refers to an enclave of Britons surviving the Anglo-Saxon conquest of the area.Combermere Abbey was the earlier of the two great Cistercian abbeys in Cheshire, the other being Vale Royal.The abbey was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and Saint Michael, and originally belonged to the Savigniac order, which merged with the Cistercian order by 1147.