The Abbey is a ruin, but a magnificent one from the 12th Century. The Abbey was added to over centuries and could only expand outwards over the river (see my photograph). In July this year it was flooded to a depth of a foot of water as a result, and that must have been fairly common over the long life of the Abbey. It was built of local sandstone but had a tower added 300 years later (apparently, an exercise in vanity; just so the Cistercian Abbey could be said to have the tallest tower).
An old monk who died more than 100 years old wrote the histories on parchment – a life witness. Interestingly, the average life expectancy of the time about 30 years, and in the towns 20 was considered old! The sanitation and regular good food are thought to have been a factor in the longer lifespan enjoyed by monks. By regulation they ate 1½ lbs of bread and 2 pints of ale each day. When meat was came in as regulations were relaxed, it was seriously argued that meat was only the flesh of for-legged animals, so chicken was not meat (sic).
The Abbey had a tunnel like room where monks could talk to each other; at other times they were meant to be silent. Only one room was heated, but the fire was continuous 24/7.
There was a jail for badly behaved monks, and it had shackles!
Schoolchildren visit wearing white robes (see my photograph), just like Cistercian monks wore. In its day, before dissolution, it was one of the richest Abbeys in the world. For instance, when a sheep disease spread and most flocks had to put down (16,000 sheep) they went into debt of £6,000 equivalent to more than a million pounds today – and that was just one of many enterprises 50 monks and 250 lay or hired workers ran.
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