Abbeys and Monasteries in England A-Z
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Abbeys

Holy Island and Lindisfarne Priory
Lindisfarne

Abbeys and Monasteries in England

(S-Z)

Most of these medieval marvels are in ruins. For some that aren't, check out Cathedrals.
Or see Abbeys in Scotland | Wales

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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W X Y Z

 Sawley Abbey
  

Sawley Abbey 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

Attraction Type: Abbey
Heritage Rating: Heritage Rating  ?
Location: In Sawley, off the A59. Open all year except New Years and Christmas holidays. Check English Heritage website for details.
Website: Sawley Abbey
English Heritage
OS SD776464

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 Shaftesbury Abbey Museum and Garden
We had the pleasure of visiting here, and our information is based on our personal experiences  

Shaftesbury Abbey Museum and Garden 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

Attraction Type: Abbey
Heritage Rating: Heritage Rating  ?
Location: in the town centre
Website: Shaftesbury Abbey Museum and Garden
Email: user@shaftesburyabbey.co.uk
Phone: 01747 852 910
Fax: 01747 852 910
Location map
OS ST863 229

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 Shap Abbey
We had the pleasure of visiting here, and our information is based on our personal experiences We took some photos of this location that we'd like to share with you  

Shap Abbey A rare Premonstratensian house, founded around 1200 in a bleak setting. The most notable remain is that of the huge west tower.
Shap, Cumbria, England

Attraction Type: Abbey
Heritage Highlight: The west tower is the best remaining feature
Heritage Rating: Heritage Rating  ?
Location: 1½ miles W of Shap on the bank of the River Lowther
Website: Shap Abbey
English Heritage
Details of Shap Abbey - Photos of Shap Abbey
OS NY 548152

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 St Augustine's Abbey
We had the pleasure of visiting here, and our information is based on our personal experiences We took some photos of this location that we'd like to share with you  

St Augustine's Abbey 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: Heritage Rating  ?
Location: A quarter mile east of Cathedral Close in Longport. Well signposted for walking from the city centre. Paid parking opposite.

Website: St Augustine's Abbey
Phone: 01227 378 100
English Heritage
Location map - Photos of St Augustine's Abbey
OS TR168 581

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 St Botolph's Priory
  

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

Attraction Type: Abbey
Heritage Rating: Heritage Rating  ?
Location: Off Queen Street, just north of the A134. Open access site.
Website: St Botolph's Priory
English Heritage
OS TL998250

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 St Olave's Priory
We had the pleasure of visiting here, and our information is based on our personal experiences We took some photos of this location that we'd like to share with you  

St Olave's Priory 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

Attraction Type: Abbey
Heritage Rating: Heritage Rating  ?
Location: On the A143 5.5 miles south west of Great Yarmouth. Open access site.
Website: St Olave's Priory
English Heritage - Photos of St Olave's Priory
OS TM459994

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 Stoke-sub-Hamdon Priory
  

Stoke-sub-Hamdon Priory The Great Hall of this 14th/15th century complex of farm buildings is open to visitors.
North Street, Stoke-sub-Hamdon, Somerset, England, TA14 6QP

Attraction Type: Abbey
Heritage Rating: Heritage Rating  ?
Location: 2 miles W of Montacute between the A303 and the A3088
Website: Stoke-sub-Hamdon Priory
Email: stokehamdonpriory@nationaltrust.org.uk
Phone: 01935 823 289
National Trust
Location map
OS ST472 174

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 Thetford Church of the Holy Sepulchre
  

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

Attraction Type: Abbey
Heritage Rating: Heritage Rating  ?
Location: Off Canons Close, north of the A134 (Brandon Road). This is an open access site.
Website: Thetford Church of the Holy Sepulchre
English Heritage
OS TL863832

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 Thetford Priory
  

Thetford Priory 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

Attraction Type: Abbey
Heritage Highlight: 14th century gatehouse
Heritage Rating: Heritage Rating  ?
Location: Near Thetford Station, to the west side of the town
Website: Thetford Priory
English Heritage
OS TL865832

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 Thornton Abbey
  

Thornton Abbey 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

Attraction Type: Abbey
Heritage Highlight: 14th century brick gatehouse
Heritage Rating: Heritage Rating  ?
Location: 10 m E Scunthorpe, off A160
Website: Thornton Abbey
Phone: 01469 541 445
English Heritage
Location map
OS TA117 192

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 Titchfield Abbey
  

Titchfield Abbey 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

Attraction Type: Abbey
Heritage Rating: Heritage Rating  ?
Location: ½ mile N Titchfield, off A27
Website: Titchfield Abbey
Phone: 01329 842 133
English Heritage
OS SU541 067

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 Tynemouth Castle and Priory
  

Tynemouth Castle and Priory 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

Attraction Type: Castle
Heritage Rating: Heritage Rating  ?
Website: Tynemouth Castle and Priory
English Heritage
Location map
OS NZ372693

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 Walsingham Priory
We had the pleasure of visiting here, and our information is based on our personal experiences  

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

Attraction Type: Abbey
Heritage Rating: Heritage Rating  ?
Location: Access directly off the market place, in the centre of Little Walsingham. Thee is a large pay parking lot within a very short walk.
Website: Walsingham Priory
Historic Houses Association
Location map
OS TF933367

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 Waverley Abbey
  

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

Attraction Type: Abbey
Heritage Rating: Heritage Rating  ?
Location: On the B3001 3 miles south of Farnham. Open at any reasonable daylight hour, year round.
Website: Waverley Abbey
English Heritage
OS SU866453

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 Wenlock Priory
  

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

Attraction Type: Abbey
Heritage Highlight: Superbly decorated 12th century chapter house
Heritage Rating: Heritage Rating  ?
Location: In the north east of Much Wenlock, at the east end of High Street off Bull Ring.
Website: Wenlock Priory
Phone: 01952 727466
English Heritage
Location map
OS SJ624001

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 Wetheral Priory
We had the pleasure of visiting here, and our information is based on our personal experiences  

Wetheral Priory 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

Attraction Type: Abbey
Heritage Rating: Heritage Rating  ?
Location: On the B6263 at Wetheral, 3 miles south east of Carlisle. The Priory is on the southern boundary of Wetheral. Free entry, and easily viewed from the roadside.
Website: Wetheral Priory
English Heritage
OS NY468542

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 Whalley Abbey Gatehouse
  

Whalley Abbey Gatehouse 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

Attraction Type: Abbey
Heritage Rating: Heritage Rating  ?
Location: In Whalley village, just off the A59 and A671. Open access site.
Website: Whalley Abbey Gatehouse
English Heritage
OS SD731360

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 Whitby Abbey
We had the pleasure of visiting here, and our information is based on our personal experiences We took some photos of this location that we'd like to share with you  

Whitby Abbey 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

Attraction Type: Abbey
Heritage Highlight: Site of the 7th century synod which effectively ended Celtic Christianity in the north of England
Heritage Rating: Heritage Rating  ?
Location: on clifftop E of Whitby
Website: Whitby Abbey
Phone: 01947 603568
English Heritage
Location map - Photos of Whitby Abbey
OS NZ901111

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 White Ladies Priory
  

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.

Boscobel, Shropshire, England

Attraction Type: Abbey
Heritage Rating: Heritage Rating  ?
Location: On a minor road just south of Bishops Wood. Junction 3 of the M54.
Website: White Ladies Priory
English Heritage
OS SJ826075

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 Wymondham Abbey
  

Wymondham Abbey 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

Attraction Type: Abbey
Heritage Rating: Heritage Rating  ?
Website: Wymondham Abbey
Phone: 01953 607062
Location map
OS TG107013

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