The atmospheric remains of a 12th century Cistercian monastery standing beside the River Ribble. The abbey was founded in 1147 by William de Percy, and is built to the traditional Cistercian plan, with the abbey church forming the north range of the cloisters, lay brother's quarters on the west range, an east range featuring the chapter house and monk's quarters, and further domestic buildings on the south range.
Sawley,
Lancashire,
England
Only the excavated foundations remain of Shaftesbury's 9th century Benedictine Abbey, but the story of the abbey is brought to life in this excellent museum.
Park Walk,
Shaftesbury,
Dorset,
England,
SP7 8JR
In this case the abbey isn't just dedicated to St. Augustine, it was actually founded by him, in 598, to house the monks he brought with him to convert the Britons to Christianity.
Longport,
Canterbury,
Kent,
England,
CT1 1TF
Attraction Type:
Abbey Heritage Rating:? Location: A quarter mile east of Cathedral Close in Longport. Well signposted for walking from the city centre. Paid parking opposite.
The remains of the first Augustinian monastery in Britain, located in the heart of modern Colchester. The priory was founded around the year 1100, and represents an excellent example of early Norman architecture.
Colchester,
Essex,
England
The remains of a 14th century Augustinian priory on a level site beside the River Waveney. St Olave's Priory was established by Augustinian friars around 1216, under the patronage of Roger Fitz Osbert. The best preserved part of this small priory is the refectory undercroft, a beautifully vaulted brick building that was converted for a time into a cottage.
A143,
St Olaves,
Norfolk,
England
The ruins of the 14th century priory church of the Canons of the Holy Sepulchre (sometimes known as St Sepulchres Priory). The church is the only surviving remain in England of this Augustinan order. The priory was established around 1139 on the south bank of the Little Ouse river.
Canons Close,
Thetford,
Norfolk,
England
The remains of a 12th century Cluniac monastery, one of the most important in East Anglia. Thetford Priory was dedicated to St Mary, and became enormously popular with pilgrims in the Middle Ages when it was said the the Virgin Mary miraculously appeared here. A statue of the Virgin Mary was thought to contain relics of several saints, and as a result, pilgrims flocked to Thetford in great numbers to visit her shrine.
Thetford,
Norfolk,
England
Augustinian Abbey founded in 1139, but the chief interest here is the massive 14th century gatehouse, possibly built in response to the Peasant's Revolt of 1381. The gatehouse is remarkable for its early use of brick as a building material.
Scunthorpe,
Lincolnshire,
England,
DN39 6TU
Titchfield Abbey is a fortified manor built upon the ruins of a medieval monastery. The monastery was built in 1237 by the Premonstratensian order. The extensive ruins of the 13th century abbey are dwarfed by an imposing Tudor gatehouse built from the nave of the abbey church.
Titchfield,
Hampshire,
England
Tynemouth Priory and Castle is a complex of historic buildings that has been in use since at least the Iron Age period. The appeal of the site is its position on an isolated headland situated between the River Tyne and the sea. There was a native settlement here during the Roman period, and in the 7th century a monastery was esablished on the site, and Oswin, Northumbrian king and saint, is supposed to have been buried here. That first monastery was destroyed in a Danish raid, and a new monastery based on the Benedictine rule was established in about 1090.
Pier Road,
Tynemouth,
Tyne and Wear,
England,
NE30 4BZ
The ruins of the medieval priory of Walsingham dominate this lovely little Norfolk village, and the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham continues to draw visitors as it has done for almost a thousand years.
Little Walsingham,
Norfolk,
England,
NR22 6BP
Waverley Abbey was the very first Cistercian Abbey established in England, under the patronage of William Giffard, Bishop of Winchester. The monastery was founded in 1128, and partial remains of the abbey church and a range of monastic buildings still stand in an attractive setting beside the River Wey.
Farnham,
Surrey,
England
One of the most historic monastic sites in England, Wenlock Priory was founded in the year 680 AD by the King of Mercia, Merewalh, for his daughter Milburga, who served as abbess until her death in 722. Milburga was acclaimed a saint after her death. Milburga's abbey was destroyed around 874 by the Danes, but was eventually refounded as a Minster by Leofric of Mercia around 1050. Sometime after the Norman Conquest the Minster was once again refounded, this time as a Cluniac priory.
Much Wenlock,
Shropshire,
England,
TF13 6HS
All that remains of a 12th century Benedictine Priory is a lovely red sandstone 3 story gatehouse dating from the 16th century. The gatehouse survived the Dissolution of the Monasteries because it was used as the parish vicarage. In the medieval period accused criminals could avoid punishment if they joined to fight the Scots here.
Wetheral,
Cumbria,
England
The two-storey gatehouse is all that remains of 13th century Whalley Abbey. The abbey was founded by the Cistercian order in 1296, and grew to become the second most powerful abbey in Lancashire. The north west gateway and associated walls still stand in a lovely setting beside the River Calder.
Whalley,
Lancashire,
England
Early English abbey ruins, the site of Count Dracula's (fictional) landing in England. More importantly, Whitby was the site of the 7th century synod of early bishops which established the supremacy of Roman Catholicism over the Celtic church in Britain.
Whitby,
Yorkshire,
England,
YO22 4JT
The Priory of St Leonard at Brewood is popularly known as White Ladies Priory, a reference to the white habits of the Augustinian canonesses who lived here from the late 12th century. White Ladies was never a particularly prosperous house, but it survived from the 12th century until it was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1538.
Wymondham Abbey was founded in 1107 by William D'Albini, Butler to King Henry I, as a priory of Benedictine monks under the rule of St Albans Abbey. It was later refounded as an abbey in its own right, and lasted until it was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1538. But the story does not end there, for the great abbey church was saved from destruction by becoming the parish church for the village of Wymondham. The result is a superb church, one of the finest in Norfolk.
Church Street,
Wymondham,
Norfolk,
England,
NR18 0PH
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