Reading, Berkshire, England

Reading Abbey Exterior

Reading Abbey was founded in 1121 by King Henry II "for the salvation of my soul, and the souls of King William, my father, and of King William, my brother, and Queen Maud, my wife, and all my ancestors and successors".

The abbey was built on a gravel spur "between the rivers Kennet and Thames, on a spot calculated for the reception of almost all who might have occasion to travel to the more populous cities of England"
(Chronicler William of Malmesbury).

The rivers provided convenient transport and the River Kennet provided power for the abbey water mills.

The River Kennet in the centre of Reading in England

The abbey was then established by monks from the French abbey of Cluny and from the Cluniac priory of St. Pancras at Lewes in Sussex.

Henry I died in France in 1135. His body was brought to Reading and buried in the front of the altar. His grave is clearly marked. Empress Matilda, William of Poitiers and Constance of York are also buried here but there graves are not marked.

Henry VIII had the abbey destoryed in 1538 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. After the last Abbot was killed, the buildings were robbed of lead, glass and facing stones which were removed and reused elsewhere.

The interior rubble cores of the walls of the abbey and the inner gateway still stand. It was restored in the 'Victorian Era'. Parts of the abbey are now used as an office development.

Reading Abbey Interior - View from the site of the monks dormitory looking towards the chapter house

The Reading School which was the Abbey school founded in 1125 is now a state grammar school.

Photographs taken by chris_j_wood on the 9th February 2005 - Copyright 2005 Christopher J. Wood. - Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections,
no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts
Subject to disclaimers.

Information from:
Wikipedia.com
Catholic Encyclopedia - Reading Abbey
Friends of Reading Abbey

HOME