English Abbeys - Real, but Mostly Ruined Quiz

Answer: Amesbury

There was originally a monastery on the site, but it was dissolved by Henry II in 1177 and replaced by a priory for women.

Answer: Shrewsbury

As with several other English Abbeys, all that remains of Shrewsbury Abbey after the Dissolution of the Monasteries around 1540, is the church, dedicated to St Peter and St Paul. The monastery was founded in 1083, and prospered due to its situation on the river Severn.

It owes much of its current popularity to a series of books by Ellis Peters (Edith Pargeter) featuring a monk who is a master detective during the troubled reign of King Stephen. The stories were brought to a larger audience in a television series, with Brother Cadfael (pronounced Cadvile, it's a Welsh name) played by Derek Jacobi.

Answer: Whitby

The ruins of Whitby Abbey stand in an imposing position on a hill overlooking the town of Whitby in Yorkshire. It was founded as a monastery by St Hilda in 656, and in the 11th Century it became a Benedictine Abbey. It was at the Synod of Whitby in 664 that decisions were made by King Oswy of Northumbria that led to the Romanisation of the English church.
It was at Whitby that Bram Stoker had Dracula brought in a box of earth, in the ship Demeter.

Answer: Buckfast

Buckfast Abbey was founded near the town of Buckfastleigh in Devon as a Benedictine monastery. In the 12th Century it changed to the more austere monastic form as a Cistercian abbey. It was destroyed after the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII.

In 1882 a small group of monks from France started to rebuild a new abbey on the site of the old, and it was completed in 1937. The impressive church has 14 altars. Today it is still a flourishing organisation and a popular tourist attraction, famous for its production of Buckfast Tonic Wine, honey and other apicultural products.

Answer: Tintern

Tintern was founded as a Cistercian abbey in 1131 on the Welsh side of the river Wye which forms the boundary with England here. It was inevitably abandoned during the Dissolution, and left to become ruins whose exceptional beauty have been celebrated in paintings and poetry.

Answer: Bath

Bath Abbey church is one of the many attractions of the old town of Bath, another famous one of course being the Roman baths built over the natural springs here. The dedication is to St Peter and St Paul.

Answer: Furness

The ruins of this famous abbey, built of red sandstone, are beautifully situated in a wooded valley to the north of the city of Barrow-in-Furness. Originally a Benedictine abbey, it changed to Cistercian in 1148.

Answer: Romsey

The abbey church is still a place of worship in the town of Romsey; it was built as a replacement for a wooden church in the 12th Century. Nearby King John's hunting lodge, built in 1206, is still in good condition and is used as a museum.

Answer: Bury St Edmunds

Edmund was an East Anglian king martyred by the Danes in 869 A.D. and who was buried in the town which was given his name in the 11th Century. King Canute founded a Benedictine monastery here to serve the shrine in about 1020. The 14th Century abbey gate and the 12th Century Norman bell-tower are all of the abbey buildings that remain intact.

Answer: Reading

Among the events in Reading Abbey church were the marriage of John of Gaunt in 1359, and the acknowledgement of his hitherto secret marriage to Elizabeth Woodville by King Edward IV in 1464.
The site of the old abbey is now occupied by public gardens.

Answer: Westminster

The building commonly known as Westminster Abbey is more properly called "The Collegiate Church of St Peter in Westminster" . It was founded by King Edward the Confessor in 1050, and consecrated, although not completed, in 1065; just in time for the invading Norman King William to be crowned there on Christmas Day 1066.
As it is said to be the most widely celebrated church in the Commonwealth, there is nothing more to be added here!

Answer: Battle

The small town of Battle was named after the place where the Battle of Hastings took place in 1066, and it is actually six miles from Hastings. William made good his promise, and the abbey church was consecrated in 1094, the altar said to mark the spot where King Harold fell.

The Great Gateway still survives but the church was destroyed and the abbey buildings converted into a mansion, which is now a co-educational school.

Answer: Netley

A Cistercian abbey was founded in the village of Netley in 1237 by Henry III.
The ruins, although owned by English Heritage, are seldom visited. When we went there many years ago, my little granddaughter wanted to see "where the monkeys lived" due to a slight misunderstanding of what we had told her about the place.

Answer: Titchfield

The founders of Titchfield Abbey were canons rather than monks, and were of the order of "Premonstratensians", because they came originally from Premontre in France. They not only led a communal life of prayer and work in the abbey, but also went further afield, acting as parish priests.

After the Dissolution the buildings were converted into a stately mansion by the Wriothesley family, one of who was a patron of Shakespeare.

Answer: Rievaulx

Rievaulx was founded as a Cistercian Abbey in 1131, and the ruins consist mainly of the cruciform church, although part of the refectory building still exists. The name may in fact not be French, but a corruption of Rye Valley named for the river on which the village stands.

Beaulieu is a real English Abbey with a real French name although locally pronounced Byoo-lee (rhymes with To Be) but it is in Hampshire, not Yorkshire.