Waverley Abbey
Farnham, United Kingdom
No longer standing
Demolished or destroyed.
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Waverley Abbey, located near Farnham in Surrey, was England's first Cistercian abbey, founded in 1128 by William Giffard, Bishop of Winchester. Built in the Gothic style on a flood-prone site beside the River Wey, the abbey suffered repeated inundation that necessitated major rebuilding in the 13th century. Despite its significance as a motherhouse to other abbeys, Waverley remained poorly endowed, and its community struggled with chronic poverty. The abbey was suppressed and largely demolished during Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536; its stone was salvaged for local buildings, including Waverley Abbey House (built 1723) on the former precinct. The scheduled monument ruins, now managed by English Heritage, remain open to the public as part of a conservation area.
Movement
- Built
- Type
- abbey
- Heritage
- scheduled monument
- Place
- Farnham, United Kingdom
This building on
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Location