Ruined Abbeys of Southwest UK

Hundreds of Catholic monasteries were founded in the UK during Saxon, Norman and medieval times, typically being enlarged in several stages, and generally based around a large, cruciform church adjoining square cloisters lined with subsidiary buildings such as a chapter house, dormitory, hospital and living quarters. All were abruptly closed in 1539 as part of Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries, and while the majority were either entirely demolished or incorporated into other buildings, some survive in a ruinous state, and these structures are rivalled only by castles for spectacular architecture and atmospheric settings, and the great age of the remains.

In the UK there are three main types, or orders, of monasteries, depending on the precise rules followed by the monks or nuns; Augustinian, Benedictine and Cistercian. Most monasteries were abbeys, presided over by an abbot, while some of slightly lower status were priories managed by priors, or friaries, managed by friars. Many counties had several dozen such institutions but typically only one or two are visible today in a ruined state. In southwest UK the principal sites are Glastonbury Abbey, Hailes Abbey, Llanthony Priory, Margam Abbey, Neath Abbey, Netley Abbey and Tintern Abbey.


Some of the most notable surviving abbeys and priories, reconsecrated as parish churches, are at Bath, Christchurch, Great Malvern, Pershore, Sherborne and Tewkesbury.

Other religious ruins are scattered across the counties, including several fortified, castle-like residences once used by cathedral bishops, for example at Cardiff and Wells, and, more numerous, abandoned churches, some intact and preserved, others incomplete, such as Chisbury Chapel, Edvin Loach Old Church, Runston Chapel and St James Church.