Inner rubble cores of the walls of the major buildings; gateway and hospitium intact.
Public access
Open daily
Reading Abbey is a large, ruined abbey in 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.[1] The traditions of the Abbey are continued today by the neighbouring St James's Church, which is partly built using stones of the Abbey ruins.[2][3]
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 a new gallery at Reading Museum, and an extensive activity programme.[4][5]
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.
^Coates, Alan (1999). English medieval books: The Reading Abbey collections from foundation to dispersal. Oxford historical monographs. Oxford: Clarendon Press. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198207566.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-820756-6.
^The staff of the Trust for Wessex Archaeology and Reading Museum and Art Gallery (1983). Reading Abbey Rediscovered: A summary of the Abbey's history and recent archaeological excavations. Trust for Wessex Archaeology.
^"Visit". readingabbeyquarter.org.uk. Reading Borough Council. 18 May 2018. Archived from the original on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
^"Reading Abbey Abbey ruins reopen after £3m repairs". www.bbc.co.uk. BBC. 16 June 2018. Archived from the original on 17 July 2018. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
^"About the Abbey Quarter". readingabbeyquarter.org.uk. Reading Borough Council. 14 June 2017. Archived from the original on 25 July 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
ReadingAbbey is a large, ruined abbey in the centre of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. It was founded by Henry I in 1121 "for...
and sits on the site of ReadingAbbey. HM Prison Reading was built in 1844 as the Berkshire County Gaol in the heart of Reading on the site of the former...
for Reading on 15 September 2020 as a substitute in a 1–0 EFL Cup defeat to Luton Town. Abbey signed his first professional contract with Reading on 15...
the value of reading, and the importance of time. This novel is considered to be more juvenile than her others. Throughout Northanger Abbey, Austen makes...
eclipsed in importance by the later ReadingAbbey, Reading Minster regained its status after the destruction of the Abbey and is now an Anglican parish church...
called the Reading Rota because the earliest known copy of the composition, a manuscript written in mensural notation, was found at ReadingAbbey; it was...
donated money to the abbey at Cluny itself, and after 1120 gave generously to ReadingAbbey, a Cluniac establishment. Construction on Reading began in 1121,...
the county of Berkshire. It traces its history back to the school of ReadingAbbey and is, thus, one of the oldest schools in England, although it closed...
Henry I of England, who was buried at ReadingAbbey, but which later fell into ruin, which became the "Hidden Abbey Project". In 2020, Langley said that...
great-great-grandchildren of King Henry III. They married in 1359 at ReadingAbbey as a part of the efforts of Edward III to arrange matches for his sons...
Town), a copy of the Bayeux Tapestry, finds relating to ReadingAbbey and an art collection. Reading Town Hall was built in several phases between 1786 and...
of English Rural Life Museum of Reading North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty ReadingAbbeyReading School Grade II listed building designed...
Benedictine convent of Wilton Abbey near Salisbury. She was present at the dedication of Henry's tomb at ReadingAbbey on the first anniversary of his...
hand in an iron chest in the walls of ReadingAbbey. It was dug up again in 1786 by workmen and given to Reading Museum. In 1840 it was sold to J. Scott...
a Benedictine monk who presided as the last Abbot of ReadingAbbey in the English town of Reading. At the dissolution of the monasteries under King Henry...
royal charters including titles of lands granted to Glastonbury Abbey and ReadingAbbey described her as regina Anglorum, while another mentions coronae...
father's titles and very considerable estates. On 19 May 1359, at ReadingAbbey, Reading, Berkshire, Blanche married her third cousin, John of Gaunt, fourth...
town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. The park is on the site of the outer court of ReadingAbbey, which was in front of the Abbey Church...
Henry I incorporated land at Leominster into the foundation of ReadingAbbey. ReadingAbbey in turn founded a Benedictine priory in Leominster of which the...