Reading Abbey Ruins - a return visit

A few years ago I wrote about my visits to Reading Abbey Ruins and the Forbury Gardens in my home town and you can read about this here and here. At that time I was disappointed that a place I would often spend time in had been closed for safety reasons when stones began to fall from the unstable walls. In the days before the gates to the ruins were locked Shakespeare plays would be performed and open air church services took place on the large area of lawn within the walls. Then a £3 million plus conservation project was announced and in the last year or two the walls were stabilised and rebuilt in places. The work has included further work on the abbey inner gatehouse. In June of this year the site was reopened to the public after nearly ten years of closure.  Of course, I had to go and see for myself . The conservation work had been a success. The tablet plaques in the Chapter House are just as I remember. A new arch looks good and in time will blend in. There are new information boards, displays of samples of stone carving and visitors can take a guided tour.  The ruins will be a wonderful venue for events and our daughter is looking forward to going to some of these in the future including the next Shakespearean play that's put on.

We started our walk in the Forbury Gardens. The land here was also

part of Reading Abbey. It was good to see that the water bowl

 and water in the shell fountain had been cleaned up since I visited last. 

The entrance that leads into the ruins. The walkway

 to St. James' Church and former school in the photo forms a tunnel

which I enjoyed running through on walks with my Dad along by

the River Kennet to the Forbury Gardens. The shell fountain was

a stopping point as there were large goldfish

 swimming in the water in those days.

looking into the Chapter House

inside the Chapter House

This plaque shows the music notation of

the song Sumer is i cumen in (Summer is a coming in)

It was sung as a round and the earliest manuscript

came from Reading Abbey.

This plaque is to the memory of

 the First Abbot of Reading Abbey 

A plaque to the memory of Blessed Hugh Cook Faringdon,

the last Abbot of Reading Abbey who refused to surrender

the Abbey to Henry VIII and who died on the gallows.

The wood seat has a lion carved on the top. The seat and the steps up to it

were given by The Lions Club International, Reading.

a path leads down to the Chestnut Walk

by the  River Kennet

a display of  carved stone architectural  pieces 

the River Kennet

The Chestnut Walk

On the left are the brick walls of the former Reading Prison

There are plans to open this to the public possibly as a new arts venue.

We went back into the Forbury Gardens.

The Maiwand Memorial with Lion Statue

the restored Abbey Gateway

Around Reading: Abbey Ruins

It was disappointing to find that it's no longer possible to wander around the Abbey ruins because of safety issues due to the unstable condition of the stonework.  It seems a pity that the ruins are in this state as I can remember the site was open not so long ago and public events took place on the grassy lawns. However, the walk by the river and the public garden was a pleasant one.

This old print from the River Kennet side of the site shows how impressive the Abbey must have been in its day and the x shows the area of the present ruins which included the chapter house and the monks' dormitory.

Reading Abbey was founded in 1121 by Henry I and became one of the largest and wealthiest abbeys in England which included the manors and churches in Reading.  The original dedication was to St. Mary and St. John the Evangelist and St. James was added in 1164 when the Abbey became an important place of pilgrimage.  St James' emblem of a scallop shell began to appear on Abbey seals in the early 13th century.  The Abbey brought trade and contributed to the development of the town, but there were often disputes between the town's leaders over this as the Abbot had much power in the area as the Lord of Reading.  On a positive note Reading Abbey is probably best known for having had the earliest copy of a manuscript for a six-part musical rota or round written about 1260 composed in the Wessex dialect of Middle English 'Sumer is Icumen in' (better known as 'The Cuckoo Song'). A large stone plaque of the notation was placed on the Abbey Ruins wall. It must still be there with other plaques depicting some of the important events in its earlier history.

I had to view some of the stone plaques from the outer gardens with the aid of the small pocket digital camera's zoom lens which is not very powerful.

Robed Figure - Elisabeth Frink, DBE, RA

Roses and ivy growing on the walls

The brick tower to the extreme right is part of Reading Prison which is now a remand prison.

The unusual sculpture is the work of a Danish sculptor, Jens Flemming Sorensen. Apparently his work in materials such as granite, bronze and marble often include obelisks or spheres. Humans seem to be breaking out of these spheres.

Being locked out of the Abbey Ruins I reflected on the fate of the monks at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries as they were cast out into the streets. The last Abbot, Blessed Hugh Faringdon, was hanged, drawn and quartered at the nearby Abbey Gatehouse.

The Abbey Gatehouse was restored in the 19th century by Sir George Gilbert Scott. In the 18th century it had housed an educational establishment and the novelist, Jane Austen, attended the Reading Ladies' Boarding School there.

The Abbey Gatehouse and the Forbury (Abbey forecourt area) which is now a municipal garden

This memorial cross on a grassy mound in the Forbury Gardens reads 'To the memory of Henry Beauclerc King of England who founded Reading Abbey on June 18 1121 and was buried before the High Altar on Jan 4 1136'