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Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire

Malmesbury Abbey was founded around 676. Until 610 Saxon kings were being buried with pagan rites at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, so Malmesbury Abbey dates to the earliest days of Christianity in Saxon England. In 939 King Athelstan was buried here, and his tomb can still be seen. In trying to rule on terms acceptable to all the different groups comprising tenth century England Athelstan turned very much to religion. Athelstan called on supernatural authority to bolster his position, not surprising when he had to be leader to a population made up of West Saxons, Mercians, East Anglians, Danes, Norsemen and Northumbrians, all of whom were traditionally more interested in fighting than getting on. Much of the religious ritual associated with English monarchy dates to the reign of Athelstan. The ancient religious setting of Malmesbury Abbey , with its suggestions of tradition and permanence, is a very fitting resting place for Athelstan. All of this symbolism would have been something that he himself called upon as he struggled to keep his various peoples together. It is a symbolism that is still used by monarchy in Britain today.

Malmesbury Abbey also illustrates the ancient link between the Church and learning. In medieval England reading was a skill very much confined to the Church, and art was something only undertaken for the Church. By the eleventh century Malmesbury Abbey contained the second largest library in Europe. The room over the entrance porch, known as a pervaise, still holds some examples of books held by the Abbey library.

 

 

 

Malmesbury Abbey is one of the few abbey buildings to survive the dissolution of the monasteries. It was sold by Henry VIII rather than destroyed. A large part of the building collapsed around 1500, with another collapse fifty years later. But enough of the Abbey survives to give a real sense of its original structure, and to maintain a link which remarkably stretches back over one thousand three hundred years. The surviving part of the building has been restored, and services continue to take place there.

 

 

Directions: Malmesbury Abbey is in the town of Malmesbury in Wiltshire. Come off the M4 at junction 17 onto the A429. After five miles turn left onto the B4042. Click here for an interactive map centred on Malmesbury Abbey.

Opening Times: Malmesbury Abbey is open every day except between Christmas and January 1st.

Opening hours are 10am - 5pm in summer. When BST changes to GMT opening hours change to 10am - 4pm for the winter.

 

 

Access: To avoid the Abbey steps, sixty three of them, park in the short stay car park in the town centre.

Contact:

telephone: 01666 826666

web site: http://www.malmesburyabbey.com/visiting-us.html

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