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108-577: The English Benedictine Congregation ( EBC ) is a congregation of autonomous abbatial and prioral monastic communities of Catholic Benedictine monks , nuns , and lay oblates . It is technically the oldest of the nineteen congregations affiliated to the Benedictine Confederation . The English Benedictine Congregation was erected by the Holy See in 1216 as a means of uniting the great ancient English Benedictine abbeys under

216-469: A building to receive visiting monks. These " hospitia " had a large common room or refectory surrounded by bed rooms. Each hospitium had its own brewhouse and bakehouse, and the building for more prestigious travellers had a kitchen and storeroom, with bedrooms for the guests' servants and stables for their horses. The monks of the Abbey lived in a house built against the north wall of the church. The whole of

324-560: A bull issued 12 July 1633 by Pope Urban VIII titled Plantata . The EBC's claim of continuity thus depends entirely on the 1607 Deed of Aggregation and the briefs of 1612 and 1619, not on any direct line of continuity with regular conventual English Benedictine life prior to the Dissolution. The present congregation owes its original spiritual identity primarily to the Spanish Cassinese communities its monks were formed in,

432-643: A cabaret under marquee in the ruins. The evening offered music and performance acts combined with food, much of which cooked by contributing performers. In 1994, a large scale performance event "From the Ruins" was held in the abbey ruins, the finale event for the "Art in Reading" (AIR) festival, funded in part by Reading Borough Council . This was organised by and featured a large number of artists and performers living or working in Reading, and combined specially created music, dance, paintings, poetry and culminated in

540-586: A common framework and held its first General Chapter in Oxford in 1218. The roots of English Benedictine monasticism however go back much further and can be dated to the arrival of Augustine of Canterbury and the communities established by Wilfrid and Benedict Biscop in the 6th and 7th centuries. As such the Benedictines are the oldest surviving religious order in the British Isles, were crucial in

648-711: A daughter house of St Laurence Priory, Dieulouard dedicated to St Edmund the Martyr King . In in 1632 the Paris community settled on the Rue Saint-Jacques where King James II was later buried in the Chapel of St Edmund. The final community for monks was established in a disused collegiate church dedicated St Adrian and St Denis, Lamspringe Abbey (ancestor of Fort Augustus Abbey ), in Upper Saxony in what

756-536: A few weeks, but the entire site was instead closed in May 2009 due to the risk of falling masonry. In late 2010, Reading Borough Council was reported as estimating that the ruins could cost £3m to repair, but it was also stated that the extent of the damage was yet to be determined. A survey was carried out in October 2010, using three-dimensional scans to build up a detailed view of each elevation, thus helping to identify

864-464: A first abbey was established at Monte Cassino (529 AD). Between 520 and 700 AD, monasteries were built which were spacious and splendid. All the city states of Italy hosted a Benedictine convent as did the cities of England , France and Spain . By 1415 AD, the time of the Council of Constance , 15,070 Benedictine monasteries had been established. The early Benedictine monasteries, including

972-405: A large schoolroom divided in the middle by a screen or partition, and surrounded by fourteen little rooms, the "dwellings of the scholars". The abbot's home was near the school. To the north of the church and to the right of the main entrance to the Abbey, was a residence for distinguished guests. To the left of the main entrance was a building to house poor travellers and pilgrims . There was also

1080-486: A lengthy period of training. In time, this form of common life superseded that of the older laurae. In the late 300s AD, Palladius visited the Egyptian monasteries. He described three hundred members of the coenobium of Panopolis . There were fifteen tailors, seven smiths, four carpenters, twelve camel-drivers and fifteen tanners. These people were divided into subgroups, each with its own " oeconomus ". A chief steward

1188-534: A material continuity with the first English Benedictine communities founded by Augustine and his companions in the Gregorian mission of the 6th century; and the many great Anglo Saxon Benedictine saints and foundations such as Ethelreda and Sexburga of Ely Abbey , Erkenwald of Chertsey Abbey , Ethelburga of Barking Abbey , and Mildred of Minster in Thanet Priory . The congregation also claimed

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1296-465: A moral continuity with Benedict Biscop , Wilfrid , Bede , and their communities in spite of the material link being broken by the Viking invasions. The 13th-century congregation and the ancient traditions of English Benedictine life completely ceased to exist at the dissolution of the monasteries under King Henry VIII 1535–1540. Like all the professed monastic, canonical, and mendicant religious at

1404-640: A new gallery at Reading Museum , and an extensive activity programme. Abbey Ward of Reading Borough Council takes its name from Reading Abbey, which lies within its boundaries. Now HM Prison Reading is on the site. The abbey was founded by Henry I in 1121. As part of his endowments, he gave the abbey his lands within Reading, along with land at Cholsey , then in Berkshire, and Leominster in Herefordshire. He also arranged for further land in Reading, previously given to Battle Abbey by William

1512-439: A partial collapse during a storm in 1861. It was extensively restored again after some decorative stonework came loose and fell into the street in 2010, reopening in 2018. The room above the gateway is now used by Reading Museum as part of its learning programme for local schools, whilst the arch below is available for use by pedestrian and cycle traffic. The abbey's hospitium , or dormitory for pilgrims, also survives. Known as

1620-489: A similarly undignified fate. However, the borough council's press release stated, "The graves are located behind the High Altar in an apse at the east end of the Abbey. They are located east of the area where King Henry I's grave is believed to be. No direct connection between these features and King Henry can be made using these results alone." Besides the ruins of the abbey itself, there are several other remains of

1728-487: A spectacular evening performance involving large scale puppetry and pyrotechnics loosely based upon the history of Reading Abbey from the foundation by Henry I through the rise of the merchant classes to the dissolution and eventual sacking of the Abbey under Henry VIII. In 1995, the ruined South Transept was used as the setting for the first Abbey Ruins Open Air Shakespeare production by MDM Productions and Progress Theatre in partnership with Reading Borough Council. In 1996,

1836-439: A square building with an apse of the cruciform domical Byzantine type, approached by a domed narthex . In front of the church stands a marble fountain (F), covered by a dome supported on columns. Opening from the western side of the cloister, but actually standing in the outer court, is the refectory (G), a large cruciform (cross shaped) building, about 100 feet (30 m) square, decorated within with frescoes of saints. At

1944-482: A three-sided apse. The church is remarkable for its extreme narrowness in proportion to its length. While the building is 257 ft (78 m) long, it is not more than 25 ft (7.6 m) wide. Premonstratensian canons did not care to have congregations nor possessions. Therefore, they built their churches in the shape of a long room. The Cistercians , a Benedictine reform group, were established at Cîteaux in 1098 AD by Robert of Molesme , Abbot of Molesme, for

2052-403: A very different appearance when the brethren first chose them as their place of retreat. Wide swamps, deep morasses, tangled thickets, and wild, impassable forests were their prevailing features. Clara Vallis of St Bernard, now the "bright valley" was originally, the "Valley of Wormwood". It was an infamous den of robbers. Reading Abbey Reading Abbey is a large, ruined abbey in

2160-585: Is Abbot Christopher Jamison , former Abbot of Worth Abbey . In 2020 the EBC had houses in the United Kingdom, the United States, Peru, and Zimbabwe. In 2022, three communities of nuns – Kylemore Abbey (Ireland), Mariavall Abbey (Sweden) and Jamberoo Abbey (Australia) – were accepted into the EBC, bringing the number of houses and communities to 17. Membership Numbers In 2022, membership of

2268-678: Is assisted by a number of officials, and periodically undertakes a Visitation of the individual houses. The purpose of the Visitation is the preservation, strengthening and renewal of the religious life, including the laws of the Church and the Constitutions of the congregation. The President may require by Acts of Visitation, that particular points in the Rule, the Constitutions and the law of the Church be observed. The current Abbot President

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2376-464: Is icumen in , which was first written down in the abbey about 1240, is the earliest known six-part harmony from Britain. The original document is held in the British Library . Reading Abbey was frequently visited by kings and others, most especially by Henry III who often visited three or four times a year staying several weeks on each visit. It also hosted important state events, including

2484-469: Is laid out as a private garden and to the south is a surviving wall of the refectory . The ruins are Grade I listed and a Scheduled monument Over the years the ruins have been repaired and maintained in a piecemeal fashion leading to their deterioration. In April 2008, the cloister arch, chapter house and treasury were closed to the public. Repair work began in March 2009 and was expected to take only

2592-483: Is now Germany. The missionary work of the EBC monks among the recusant Catholics in England began to attract women to the monastic life and 8 postulants travelled to Flanders with Dom Benet Jones lead by Gertrude More , great-great granddaughter to St Thomas More , settling near Douai . The community was established in 1623 at Cambrai and dedicated to Our Lady of Consolation (ancestor of Stanbrook Abbey ). By 1645

2700-402: Is the larger by far, contains the granaries and storehouses (K), the kitchen (H) and other offices connected with the refectory (G). Immediately adjacent to the gateway is a two-storied guest-house, entered from a cloister (C). The inner court is surrounded by a cloister (EE) from which one enters the monks' cells (II). In the centre of this court stands the katholikon or conventual church,

2808-671: The Abbot of Cluny . All the Cluniac houses in England and Scotland were French colonies, governed by French priors who travelled to the Abbey of Cluny to consult or be consulted (unless the abbot of Cluny chose to come to Britain, which happened rarely). The priory at Paisley was an exception. In 1245 AD it was raised to the status of an abbey, answerable only to the Pope. The Augustinian (or "Austin") canons were an order of regular clergy within

2916-783: The French Revolution . These communities were the Brussels mother house, later East Bergholt Abbey ; the Ghent community, later Oulton Abbey , founded 1624; the Dunkirk community, later Teignmouth Abbey , founded 1662; and the Ypres community, Kylemore Abbey , founded 1665. The Abbeys of the Percy tradition remained unaffiliated from any Benedictine congregation including the EBC until Kylemore aggregated in 2020 however Dames from from

3024-462: The Hospitium of St. John and founded in 1189, the surviving building is the main building of a larger range of buildings that could accommodate 400 people. Much of the remainder of this range of buildings was located where Reading Town Hall now stands. Today the surviving building occupies a rather isolated site, with no direct street access. It abuts the main concert hall of Reading Town Hall to

3132-535: The Mediterranean Basin and Europe . The earliest known Christian monasteries were groups of huts built near the residence of a famous ascetic or other holy person. Disciples wished to be close to their holy man or woman in order to study their doctrine or imitate their way of life. In the earliest times of Christian monasticism, ascetics would live in social isolation but near a village church. They would subsist whilst donating any excess produce to

3240-537: The Nile , in Upper Egypt , Saint Pachomius laid the foundations for the coenobitical life by arranging everything in an organized manner. He built several monasteries, each with about 1,600 separate cells laid out in lines. These cells formed an encampment where the monks slept and performed some of their manual tasks. There were nearby large halls such as the church, refectory, kitchen, infirmary, and guest house for

3348-523: The River Kennet near the village of Theale , passes just to the south of the Abbey, and returns to its parent river just downstream of the Abbey Mill. The ruins of Reading Abbey have a history of live performance. From early impromptu artist-led events, the site has established a history of open-air theatre. In the late 1980s, the food art and performance collective La Grande Bouche organised

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3456-467: The River Kennet . The ruins are grade II listed . It is situated just to the south of the ruins of the Abbey itself. The water mill originally belonged to Reading Abbey, whose monks are believed to have created the Holy Brook as a water supply to this and other mills owned by them and to the abbey's fish ponds . The mill was built straddling the Holy Brook which marked the southern boundary of

3564-740: The Royal Abbey of San Benito, Valladolid . In 1608 another community (ancestor of Ampleforth Abbey ) was established in the disused collegiate church of Dieulouard , dedicated to St Laurence of Rome , in the Duchy of Lorraine (modern France ). Two further houses in the Kingdom of France followed, the first in 1611 at Saint-Malo in Brittany , and the second in 1615 in Paris founded by Dom Gabriel Gifford O.S.B (ancestor of today's Douai Abbey ) as

3672-408: The " necessarium " (latrines). On the south side of the cloister was the refectory. The kitchen, at the west end of the refectory was accessed via an anteroom and a long passage. Nearby were the bake house, brew house and the sleeping-rooms of the servants. The upper story of the refectory was called the "vestiarium" (a room where the ordinary clothes of the monks were stored). On the western side of

3780-652: The 4 extant male Priories of exiled English speaking monks (Douai English priory, forerunner to the Downside , Ealing , and Worth communities; Dieulouard English Priory, forerunner to the Ampleforth community; St Edmunds Priory Paris, forerunner to the Douai community; and the extinct Priory of Saint-Malo) were united by another brief of Paul V, Ex Incumbenti . The documents issued in Paul's papacy were further ratified by

3888-488: The Abbey Church. After this, the buildings of the abbey were extensively robbed, with lead, glass and facing stones removed for reuse elsewhere. Some twenty years after the Dissolution, Reading town council created a new town hall by inserting an upper floor into the former refectory of the hospitium of the abbey. The lower floor of this building continued to be used by Reading School , as it had been since 1486. For

3996-563: The Abbey gateway and the conservation of the refectory wall. Work began in September 2016 and the ruins reopened to the public on 16 June 2018. In spring 2014, historian-screenwriter Philippa Langley , MBE, best known for her contribution to the exhumation of Richard III in 2012, together with local historians John and Lindsay Mullaney, put together a complementary effort called the Hidden Abbey Project (HAP). The goal of

4104-639: The Abbey. There are also some findings probably related to the Abbey's construction, as well as some other potential archaeological targets. News reports seized on the fact that the grave sites were found underneath the Ministry of Justice car park at Reading Gaol. Said the Telegraph: Britain’s kings appear to be making a habit of this. First it was Richard III, whose bones were found under a car park in Leicester. Now it appears that Henry I may have met

4212-514: The Brussels and Ghent were involved of the 1623 EBC convent at Cambrai . In 1607 a Priory dedicated to St Gregory the Great , the first monastic community for exiled English Benedictine monks (ancestor of Downside Abbey and its daughter houses Ealing Abbey and Worth Abbey ) was established at Douai in Flanders by John Roberts and other English monks from Spanish monasteries, particularly

4320-490: The Cambrai community under Abbess Catherine Gascoigne had increased to 50 nuns, and was living in conditions of extreme poverty. On 6 February 1652, a new priory was established in Paris dedicated to Our Lady of Good Hope with Dame Bridget More as Prioress (ancestor of Colwich Abbey ). The sexual abuse scandal in the EBC around the turn of the 21st century was a significant episode in a series of Catholic sex abuse cases in

4428-693: The Conqueror , to be transferred to Reading Abbey, in return for some of his land at Appledram in Sussex. Following its royal foundation, the abbey was established by a party of monks from Cluny Abbey in Burgundy , together with monks from the Cluniac priory of St Pancras at Lewes in Sussex. The abbey was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and St John the Evangelist . The first abbot, in 1123,

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4536-561: The Forest of Coucy in the diocese of Laon , the order spread widely. Even in Norbert's lifetime, the order had built abbeys in Aleppo , Syria , and in the Kingdom of Jerusalem . Of the Abbey of Saint Samuel, Denys Pringle wrote, "The Premonstatensian abbey of Saint Samuel was a daughter house of Prémontré itself. Its abbot had the status of a suffragan of the patriarch of Jerusalem , with

4644-676: The HAP was to perform a modern comprehensive study, including a non-invasive analysis of the grounds using ground-penetrating radar (GPR). The first phase of the GPR survey, focusing on the Abbey Church, St James’ Church, the Forbury Gardens, and the Reading Gaol car park, began in June 2016. Initial results indicate some potential grave sites behind the high altar in an apse at the east end of

4752-547: The Holy See. As more rampant persecution emerged in reprisal to the 1605 Gunpowder Plot and fearing the congregation would die with him the last of the Westminster monks professed under Abbot Feckenham, the aged Dom Sigebert Buckley O.S.B, "aggregated" Doms Robert Sadler and Edward Mayhew O.S.B, two English monks, priests, and missionaries of the Abbey of Santa Giustina, Padua , and four other lay brothers and oblates to

4860-464: The United Kingdom. The events concerned ranged from the 1960s to the 2010s, and led to a number of EBC monks being laicized , convicted and imprisoned for the sexual abuse of children and vulnerable adults. Every four years the General Chapter of the EBC elects an Abbot or Abbess President from among the ruling and former ruling abbots and abbesses of the houses of the congregation. He or she

4968-585: The abbey established wharves on the River Kennet . The Kennet also provided power for the abbey water mills , most of which were established on the Holy Brook , a channel of the Kennet of uncertain origin. When Henry I died in Lyons-la-Forêt , Normandy in 1135 his body was returned to Reading, and was buried in the front of the altar of the then incomplete abbey. Because of its royal patronage,

5076-460: The abbey was one of the pilgrimage centres of medieval England, and one of its richest and most important religious houses, with possessions as far away as Herefordshire and Scotland. The abbey also held over 230 relics including the hand of St James . A shrivelled human hand was found in the ruins during demolition work in 1786 and is now in St Peter's RC Church, Marlow . The song Sumer

5184-522: The architect Robert Willis (architect) (1800–1875) the Abbey's lay out is that of a town of individual houses with streets running between them. The abbey was planned in compliance with the Benedictine rule that, if possible, a monastery should be self-contained. For instance, there was a mill, a bakehouse , stables , and cattle stalls. In all, there were thirty-three separate structures; mostly one level wooden buildings. The Abbey church occupied

5292-410: The centre of a quadrangular area, about 430 feet (130 m) square. On the eastern side of the north transept of the church was the " scriptorium " or writing-room, with a library above. The church and nearby buildings ranged about the cloister , a court about which there was a covered arcade which allowed sheltered movement between the buildings. The nave of the church was on the north boundary of

5400-465: The centre of the town of Reading , in the English county of Berkshire . It was founded by Henry I in 1121 "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." In its heyday the abbey was one of Europe's largest royal monasteries . The traditions of the Abbey are continued today by

5508-415: The choir was closed from the aisles. At other abbeys of the order, such as Bolton Abbey or Kirkham Priory , there were no aisles. The nave in the northern houses of the order often had only a north aisle (this is the case at Bolton, Brinkburn Priory and Lanercost Priory ). The arrangement of the monastic buildings followed the ordinary plan. The prior's lodge was usually attached to the southwest angle of

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5616-404: The church and associated buildings of an abbey often follows a set plan determined by the founding religious order. Abbeys are often self-sufficient while using any abundance of produce or skill to provide care to the poor and needy, refuge to the persecuted, or education to the young. Some abbeys offer accommodation to people who are seeking spiritual retreat . There are many famous abbeys across

5724-407: The church, the refectory, the dormitory and so on. A detached building belonging to each contained a bathroom and a kitchen. One of the miniature complexes was called the "oblati". These were the buildings for the novices. The other complex was a hospital or infirmary for the care of sick monks. This infirmary complex included a physician's residence, a physic garden , a drug store, and a chamber for

5832-401: The cloister was another two-story building with a cellar on the ground floor and the larder and store-room on the upper floor. Between this building and the church was a parlour for receiving visitors. One door of the parlour led to the cloisters and the other led to the outer part of the Abbey. Against the outer wall of the church was a school and headmaster's house. The school consisted of

5940-405: The cloister. On the east side of the cloister, on the ground floor, was the " pisalis " or " calefactory ". This was a common room, warmed by flues beneath the floor. Above the common room was the dormitory . The dormitory opened onto the cloister and also onto the south transept of the church. This enabled the monks to attend nocturnal services. A passage at the other end of the dormitory lead to

6048-562: The completion of St Peter's Basilica at Rome. The church consisted of five naves, a narthex (ante-church) which was added in 1220 AD, and several towers. Together with the conventual buildings, it covered an area of twenty-five acres. In the Dechristianization of France during the French Revolution in 1790 AD, the Abbey church was bought by the town and almost entirely destroyed. As of 2025, however, fragments of

6156-472: The constituent houses was as follows. England Australia Ireland Peru Sweden United States Zimbabwe Abbey The concept of the abbey has developed over many centuries from the early monastic ways of religious men and women where they would live isolated from the lay community about them. Religious life in an abbey may be monastic. An abbey may be the home of an enclosed religious order or may be open to visitors. The layout of

6264-419: The conversion of their people to Christianity, and have impacted the character English Christianity, even its Protestant forms. From 1534-1540 all of the congregations houses were violently suppressed during Henry VIII 's Dissolution . The congregation as it exists to day is the result of Pope Paul V 's 1619 unification of two groups of English Benedictines, a group of continental houses for exiles founded in

6372-405: The critically ill. There was also a room for bloodletting and purging. The physic garden occupied the north east corner of the Abbey. In the southernmost area of the abbey was the workshop containing utilities for shoemakers , saddlers (or shoemakers, sellarii), cutlers and grinders, trencher -makers, tanners , curriers, fullers, smiths and goldsmiths . The tradesmen's living quarters were at

6480-424: The dangerous situation of persecution, the need for priestly and catechetical workers in the English mission, and the general climate of Tridentine monastic reform. In 1598 Lady Mary Percy O.S.B established the first religious community for English exiles under the Rule of St Benedict for nuns at Brussels from which sprang a number of daughter houses, which together with the mother house returned to England during

6588-494: The design of the order's churches and buildings. The defining architectural characteristic of the Cistercian abbeys was extreme simplicity and plainness. Only a single, central tower was permitted, and that was usually very low. Unnecessary pinnacles and turrets were prohibited. The triforium was omitted. The windows were usually plain and undivided, and it was forbidden to decorate them with stained glass. All needless ornament

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6696-475: The early 17th century and a group of about 8 monks who had been aggregated to the ancient English Congregation by Dom Sigebert Buckley , the last surviving monk of Westminster Abbey , in 1607. The pre-dissolution communities of England were the product of the 10th-century English Benedictine Reform of Dunstan and the monastic principles laid down in the Regularis Concordia . They could claim

6804-628: The extent of the conservation required. In April 2011 plans for an £8m revamp were unveiled, with the aim to create an Abbey Quarter cultural area in Reading. In June 2014 the Council secured initial funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF); more detailed plans for the project, Reading Abbey Revealed, were then developed and submitted to the HLF in September 2015. In October 2014, a temporary scaffold roof, not visible from ground level,

6912-606: The first at Monte Cassino, were constructed on the plan of the Roman villa . The layout of the Roman villa was quite consistent throughout the Roman Empire and where possible, the monks reused available villas in sound repair. This was done at Monte Cassino. However, over time, changes to the common villa lay out occurred. The monks required buildings which suited their religious and day-to-day activities. No overriding specification

7020-489: The gate was the hospitium (guest hall). The buildings are completely ruined, but the walls of the nave and the cloisters are still visible on the grounds of the Yorkshire Museum . The Abbey was surrounded by fortified walls on three sides. The River Ouse bordered the fourth side. The stone walls remain as an excellent example of English abbey walls. The Abbey of Cluny was founded by William I, Duke of Aquitaine in 910 AD at Cluny , Saône-et-Loire , France . The Abbey

7128-449: The hierarchy of the Catholic church . They held a position between monks and secular canons. They were known as "Black canons" because of the colour of their habits . In 1105 AD, the first house of the order was established at St Botolph's Priory , Colchester , Essex . The canons built very long naves to accommodate large congregations. The choirs were also long. Sometimes, as at Llanthony Priory and Christchurch, Dorset (Twynham),

7236-414: The larger abbey complex still extant. The Abbey's Inner Gateway, also known as the Abbey Gateway, adjoins Reading Crown Court and Forbury Gardens . It is one of only two abbey buildings that have survived intact, and is a grade I listed building . The Inner Gateway marked the division between the area open to the public and the section accessible only to monks. Hugh Faringdon , the last abbot of Reading

7344-446: The last Abbot of Colchester John Beche , executed in a common hanging place on his monastic lands. Mary I briefly restored Westminster Abbey to 14 English Benedictine monks, professed either in pre-dissolution or continental houses, under Abbot John Feckenham of Evesham Abbey on the feast of the Presentation of Mary (21 November) in 1556 and they admitted a small number of new brethren to profession. This very modest revival

7452-410: The meeting between Henry II and the Patriarch of Jerusalem in 1185, the wedding of John of Gaunt and Blanche of Lancaster in 1359 and a meeting of Parliament in 1453. The abbey was mostly destroyed in 1538 during Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries . The last abbot, Hugh Faringdon , was subsequently tried and convicted of high treason and hanged, drawn and quartered in front of

7560-620: The monastery. Some were small monasteries accommodating five or ten monks. Others were no more than a single building serving as residence or a farm offices. The outlying farming establishments belonging to the monastic foundations were known as "villae" or "granges". They were usually staffed by lay-brothers , sometimes under the supervision of a monk. Many of today's cathedrals in England were originally Benedictine monasteries. These included Canterbury , Chester , Durham , Ely , Gloucester , Norwich , Peterborough , Rochester , Winchester , and Worcester . Shrewsbury Abbey in Shropshire

7668-429: The monastic enclosure. It continued to grind corn into the 1950s. Today, all that remains is a section of wall, pierced by three arches. The wall is built of flint with caen stone ashlar dressings and brick filling. The two side arches are round headed, whilst the centre arch over the Holy Brook is larger and pointed. The Holy Brook is a 6 miles (9.7 km) long, largely artificial, watercourse which flows out of

7776-429: The monk's common needs. An enclosure protecting all these buildings gave the settlement the appearance of a walled village. This layout, known as the laurae (lanes), became popular throughout Israel . As well as the "laurae", communities known as "caenobia" developed. These were monasteries where monks lived a common life together. The monks were not permitted to retire to the cells of a laurae before they had undergone

7884-425: The nave, on the south side of the cloister, was a refectory, with a lavatory at the door. On the eastern side, there was a dormitory, raised on a vaulted substructure and communicating with the south transept and a chapter house (meeting room). A small cloister lay to the south-east of the large cloister. Beyond that was an infirmary with a table hall and a refectory for those who were able to leave their chambers. At

7992-468: The nave. The Austin canons' house at Thornton, Lincolnshire had a large and magnificent gatehouse . The upper floors of the gatehouse formed the guest-house. The chapter-house was octagonal in shape. The Premonstratensian regular canons, or "White canons", were of an order founded in 1119 AD by Norbert of Xanten . The order was a reformed branch of the Augustinian canons . From a marshy area in

8100-504: The near-extinct Chapter of Westminster (and thereby the English Benedictine Congregation) on 21 November 1607. The Deed of Aggregation was an unofficial, clandestine affair, treasonable under English law and without prior papal consent, with only Buckley, Sadler, and Mayhew personally present. The Deed was later ratified by Pope Paul V 's in the papal brief Cum Sicut Accepimus (24 December 1612). In 1619

8208-472: The neighbouring St James's Church , which is partly built using stones of the Abbey ruins. Reading Abbey was the focus of a major £3 million project called "Reading Abbey Revealed" which conserved the ruins and Abbey Gateway and resulted in them being re-opened to the public on 16 June 2018. Alongside the conservation, new interpretation of the Reading Abbey Quarter was installed, including

8316-404: The next 200 years, the old monastic building continued to serve as Reading's town hall, but by the 18th century it was suffering from structural weakness. Between 1785 and 1786, the old hall was dismantled and replaced on the same site by the first of several phases of building that were to make up today's Reading Town Hall . Around 1787, Henry Seymour Conway removed a large amount of stone from

8424-555: The original Abbey still stand and archaeological excavations have intermittently been conducted over the past century, yielding a massively important and rich source of information. The first English house of the Cluniac order was built at Lewes , Sussex . It was founded by William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey in about 1077 AD. All but one of the Cluniac houses in Britain were known as priories , symbolizing their subordination to

8532-437: The outdoor production moved to the ruined chapter house and since 1999 has been staged by Progress Theatre in partnership with Reading Borough Council. This annual event expanded to the "Reading Abbey Ruins Open Air Festival" in 2007. Because of the access limitations during the restoration project, the 2009 and 2010 festivals could not be held, and the event has since relocated to the gardens of Caversham Court . "Shakespeare in

8640-454: The place where common criminals were executed on their abbatial estates. These included three beatified abbots and the brethren of their communities who died with them; the last Abbot of Glastonbury Richard Whiting , executed on The Tor with fellow Glastonbury monks John Thorne, and Roger James; the last Abbot of Reading Hugh Faringdon , executed in the inner courtyard of his Abbey with fellow Reading monks John Eynon , and John Rugg; and

8748-548: The poor. However, increasing religious fervor about the ascetic's ways and or persecution of them would drive them further away from their community and further into solitude. For instance, the cells and huts of anchorites (religious recluses) have been found in the deserts of Egypt . In 312 AD, Anthony the Great retired to the Thebaid region of Egypt to escape the persecution of the Emperor Maximian . Anthony

8856-449: The purpose of restoring, as far as possible, the literal observance of the Rule of Saint Benedict . La Ferté, Pontigny , Clairvaux , and Morimond were the first four abbeys to follow Cîteaux's example and others followed. The monks of Cîteaux created the well known vineyards of Clos-Vougeot and Romanée in Burgundy . The Cistercian principle of rigid self-abnegation carried over to

8964-431: The rear of the workshop. Here, there were also farm buildings, a large granary and threshing-floor, mills, and malthouse. At the south-east corner of the Abbey were hen and duck houses, a poultry-yard, and the dwelling of the keeper. Nearby was the kitchen garden which complemented the physic garden and a cemetery orchard . Every large monastery had priories . A priory was a smaller structure or entities which depended on

9072-466: The rest of his portion of the abbey site to Reading Corporation to create the Forbury Gardens , which were opened in 1861. The inner rubble cores of the walls of many of the major buildings of the abbey still stand. The only parts of the Abbey Church that still exist are fragments of the piers of the central tower, together with parts of transepts, especially the south transept. In a range to

9180-581: The right to a cross, but not to a mitre nor a ring." It long maintained its rigid austerity, though in later years the abbey grew wealthier, and its members indulged in more frequent luxuries. Just after 1140 AD, the Premonstratensians were brought to England. Their first settlement was at Newhouse Abbey , Lincolnshire , near the Humber tidal estuary. There were as many as thirty-five Premonstratensian abbeys in England. The head abbey in England

9288-400: The south of this transept are, in order, the remains of the vestry , the chapter house , the infirmary passage and the ground floor of the dorter or monks dormitory and reredorter or toilet block. The best preserved of these ruins are those of the chapter house, which is apsidal and has a triple entrance and three great windows above. To the west of this range, the site of the cloister

9396-422: The southern and western areas of the Abbey were devoted to workshops, stables and farm-buildings including stables, ox-sheds, goatstables, piggeries, and sheep-folds, as well as the servants' and labourers' quarters. In the eastern part of the Abbey there was a group of buildings representing in layout, two complete miniature monasteries. That is, each had a covered cloister surrounded by the usual buildings such as

9504-464: The surrounding buildings are positioned in an awkward fashion. The church follows the plan adopted by the Austin canons in their northern abbeys, and has only one aisle to the north of the nave, while the choir is long, narrow and without an aisle. Each transept has an aisle to the east, forming three chapels. The church at Bayham Old Abbey had no aisles in the nave or the choir. The latter terminated in

9612-917: The time of the Henrician dissolution, English Benedictine priests or scholars were assumed into the reformed secular clergy of the Church of England if they assented to the Supremacy. Other priests, lay brethren, and nuns of the congregation were pensioned off if aged, sought lay employment or marriage accepting effective laicisation, were left to vagrancy, or went into exile in the Abbeys of continental Europe if they wished to maintain conventual observances, or lived as covert eremites in England. A relative few were martyred, with some monks tortured to death by being Hanged, drawn and quartered , some in provocative locations like their own Abbeys and associated holy sites or in

9720-525: The twelfth century, the Abbey of Cluny was the head of an order consisting of 314 monasteries. The church at the Abbey was commenced in 1089 AD by Hugh of Cluny , the sixth abbot. It was finished and consecrated by Pope Innocent II around 1132 AD. The church was regarded as one of the wonders of the Middle Ages . At 555 feet (169 m) in length, it was the largest church in Christendom until

9828-633: The upper end is a semicircular recess, similar to the triclinium of the Lateran Palace in Rome , in which is placed the seat of the hegumenos or abbot. This apartment is chiefly used as a meeting place, with the monks usually taking their meals in their separate cells. Monasticism in the West began with the activities of Benedict of Nursia (born 480 AD). Near Nursia , a town in Perugia , Italy ,

9936-414: The wall and used it to build Conway's Bridge near his home at Park Place outside Henley . St James's Church and School was built on a portion of the site of the abbey between 1837 and 1840. Its founder was James Wheble, who owned land in the area at that time. Reading Gaol was built in 1844 on the eastern portion of the abbey site, replacing a small county Gaol on the same site. James Wheble sold

10044-592: The wall is between three and four acres (12,000 and 16,000 m ). The longer side is about 500 feet (150 m) in length. There is only one entrance, which is located on the north side (A), defended by three iron doors. Near the entrance is a large tower (M), a constant feature in the monasteries of the Levant (Eastern Mediterranean area). There is a small postern gate at L. The enceinte comprises two large open courts, surrounded with buildings connected with cloister galleries of wood or stone. The outer court, which

10152-452: The west entrance to the Abbey, there was a house and a small courtyard for the abbot. In 1055, St Mary's Abbey, York was built in England's north by the Order of Saint Benedict . It followed the common plan. The entrance to the abbey was through a strong gate on the northern side. Close to the entrance was a chapel. This was for visitors arriving at the Abbey to make their devotions . Near

10260-409: The west, and the south of the building opens directly onto the churchyard of St Laurence's Church . The building is surrounded to the north and east by a modern office development, with a small intermediate courtyard. Some remains of the former Abbey Mill are visible alongside the Holy Brook at the south of the abbey site; they consist of a ruined former watermill on the Holy Brook , a channel of

10368-527: The workings of a coenobia in the vicinity of Antioch in Syria. The monks lived in separate huts ("kalbbia") which formed a religious hamlet on the mountainside. They were subject to an abbot, and observed a common rule. The layout of the monastic coenobium was influenced by a number of factors. These included a need for defence, economy of space, and convenience of access. The layout of buildings became compact and orderly. Larger buildings were erected and defence

10476-486: Was Hugh of Amiens who became archbishop of Rouen and was buried in Rouen Cathedral . According to the twelfth-century chronicler William of Malmesbury , 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". The adjacent rivers provided convenient transport, and

10584-676: Was again suppressed on 12 July 1560 under the Elizabethan Religious Settlement . During the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I English exiles with monastic vocations joined houses of the Cassinese Congregation in France, Spain, and Italy. The present congregation was established by English Catholic expatriates in France and the Low Countries at the start of the 17th century encouraged by

10692-536: Was at Welbeck Abbey but the best preserved are Easby Abbey in Yorkshire , and Bayham Old Abbey in Kent . The layout of Easby Abbey is irregular due to its position on the edge of a steep river bank. The cloister is duly placed on the south side of the church, and the chief buildings occupy their usual positions around it. However, the cloister garth (quadrangle), as at Chichester , is not rectangular, and thus, all

10800-445: Was at the head of the monastery. The produce of the monastery was brought to Alexandria for sale. The moneys raised were used to purchase stores for the monastery or were given away as charity. Twice in the year, the superiors of several coenobia met at the chief monastery, under the presidency of an " archimandrite " (the "chief of the fold" from the word, "miandra" (a sheepfold)) in order to make their reports. Chrysostom recorded

10908-475: Was built in the Romanesque style. The Abbey was noted for its strict observance of the Rule of Saint Benedict . However, reforms resulted in many departures from this precedent. The Cluniac Reforms brought focus to the traditions of monastic life, encouraging art and the caring of the poor. The reforms quickly spread by the founding of new abbey complexes and by adoption of the reforms by existing abbeys. By

11016-427: Was demanded of the monks but the similarity of their needs resulted in uniformity of design of abbeys across Europe. Eventually, the buildings of a Benedictine abbey were built in a uniform lay out, modified where necessary, to accommodate local circumstances. The plan of the Abbey of Saint Gall (719 AD) in what is now Switzerland indicates the general arrangement of a Benedictine monastery of its day. According to

11124-529: Was founded as a Benedictine monastery by the Normans in 1083. Westminster Abbey was founded in the tenth century by Saint Dunstan who established a community of Benedictine monks. The only traces of St Dunstan's monastery remaining are round arches and massive supporting columns of the undercroft and the Pyx Chamber. The cloister and buildings lie directly to the south of the church. Parallel to

11232-564: Was hanged, drawn, and quartered outside the Abbey Gateway in 1539. The gateway survived because it was used as the entrance to the abbots' lodging, which was turned into a royal palace after the Dissolution. In the late 18th century, the gateway was used as part of the Reading Ladies' Boarding School , attended amongst others by the novelist Jane Austen . The gateway was heavily restored by Sir George Gilbert Scott , after

11340-510: Was installed on the Gateway to allow the building to dry out until funding for more permanent repairs was secured. The HLF confirmed that the second round application had been successful in December 2015. The HLF supported the project with a grant of £1.77 million, with Reading Borough Council match funding of £1.38 million. Historic England provided additional grant funding for initial work to

11448-450: Was proscribed. The crosses were made of wood and the candlesticks of iron. The same principle governed the choice of site for Cistercian abbeys in that a most dismal site might be improved by the building of an abbey. The Cistercian monasteries were founded in deep, well-watered valleys, always standing at a stream's edge. The building might extend over the water as is the case at Fountains Abbey . These valleys, now rich and productive, had

11556-541: Was provided by strong outside walls. Within the walls, the buildings were arranged around one or more open courts surrounded by cloisters . The usual arrangement for monasteries of the Eastern world is exemplified in the plan of the convent of the Great Lavra at Mount Athos . With reference to the diagram, right, the convent of the Great Lavra is enclosed within a strong and lofty blank stone wall. The area within

11664-462: Was the best known of the anchorites of his time due to his degree of austerity, sanctity and his powers of exorcism . The deeper he withdrew into the wilderness, the more numerous his disciples became. They refused to be separated from him and built their cells close to him. This became a first true monastic community. According to August Neander , Anthony inadvertently became the founder of a new mode of living in common, Coenobitism . At Tabennae on

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