Abingdon Abbey

📍 Oxfordshire, England

3.9 ★★★½ 500 reviews

About

Abingdon Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in Abingdon-on-Thames in the modern county of Oxfordshire in the United Kingdom. Situated near to the River Thames, it was founded in c. 675 AD and was dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus. It was disestablished in 1538 during the dissolution of the monasteries. A few physical remnants of the Abbey buildings survive within Abingdon-on-Thames.

Traditionally founded in the 7th century, though rebuilt in the 10th century by St Æthelwold. One of the wealthiest abbeys in medieval England. Almost completely destroyed at the Dissolution. Surviving buildings include the medieval Long Gallery, the Checker (exchequer building), and an imposing 15th-century gateway. These fragments are Grade I listed and managed as a heritage attraction in Abingdon town centre.