The ruins of Waverley Abbey are situated in a peaceful loop of the River Wey, and still give an impression of the solitude experienced by the monks who founded a monastery here almost 900 years ago.
Description:
Waverley followed the traditional plan of a Cistercian abbey. It featured a large church, almost 91 metres (300 feet) in length.
To the south was the chapter house, where the monks would gather daily to have a chapter of the rule of the order read to them and to discuss business. Further south was the monks’ dormitory. The refectory and latrine block lay south of the cloister and the lay brothers’ accommodation was situated to the west.
Today only parts, some substantial, of the buildings remain standing, although archaeological excavation has recovered the complete ground plan.
The most impressive ruin is that of the lay brothers’ quarters, at the far end of the site. The long cellar has graceful columns supporting the vaulting above. Parts of the upper floor and the south wall remain standing.
Close by, an end wall and parts of the side walls of the monks’ dormitory are visible up to the full height of the gable. To the north are substantial remains of the chapter house and the south transept of the church, as well as traces of the north transept. An isolated stretch of wall to the east of the church is part of the abbey’s infirmary chapel.
The monastic precinct covered an area of about 24 hectares (50 acres), bordered to the south and east by the River Wey. The brewhouse and other buildings associated with the economy of the abbey lay in the western part of the precinct – these are visible today only as earthworks.
In the eastern part of the precinct are earthwork remains of a water supply system and the fishponds which provided one of the staples of the monks’ diet.
Source: (
visit link)
Information provided by English Heritage on the information board:
These ruins are all that remains of Britain's first Cistercian monastery.
Waverley Abbey was founded in 1128 by William Giffard, bishop of Winchester (1107-29). It was home to a Cistercian community for more than 400 years.
In its heyday, up to 70 monks and 120 lay brothers lived and workshipped here. The ruins you see today are part of a central group of buildings which stood within a much larger precint of about 60 acres, enclosed by a stone wall.
The abbey was suppressed by King Henry VIII in 1536. The monks were dispersed and the site granted to Sir William FitzWilliam, later earl of Southhampton (d.1542). He built a house here, incorporating some of the monastic structures.
Several families held the property trought to the early 18th century, when a new house was built to the north. The abbey ruins were then incorporated into picturesque parkland. The 18th-century house, which still stands behind, was later extended and rebuilt.