Reading Abbey
The Reading Abbey (. English Reading Abbey ) was a Benedictine - Abbey in Reading , England . It was founded by Henry I in 1121 and abolished by Henry VIII in 1539 . In its heyday it was one of the most important abbeys in England and Europe. There are only remnants of the buildings.
history
Benedictine
King Heinrich I founded the abbey in 1121 and furnished it with extensive property. He died in 1136 and was buried in front of the high altar of the still unfinished abbey church. The solemn consecration of the church to the patronage of St. Mary and John was carried out by the Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket on April 19, 1164 in the presence of Henry II and the high nobility.
The construction work was not completed until 1314 with the establishment of the Lady Chapel east of the choir . At the time, the abbey church was Britain's fourth largest church .
Reading Abbey was, besides a place of prayer and home to a large convent, the scene of numerous royal weddings and funerals and burial places for the royal family and the nobility. Meetings of the court and parliament took place here. Thousands of pilgrims from England and beyond sought healing and strengthening here. The city of Reading developed around the abbey and was under their rule; their development was greatly encouraged by the abbots.
In the course of the English Reformation , Henry VIII abolished all monasteries and confiscated their property. This also affected Reading Abbey in 1539. The abbot Hugh Faringdon defied the royal order and was executed. The convention dispersed.
Reuse
After the abbey was closed, the convent buildings were converted into a royal palace. Elizabeth I in particular stayed here frequently and initiated further expansion measures.
In the English Civil War (1642–1649) Reading was a fortress of the royalists and fiercely contested, changed hands several times and suffered severe damage.
After the civil war, private individuals seized the facility. In the chapter house , a school was established at the monastery wall emerged homes. The rest of the masonry was often used as a quarry. In the north of the site, the Catholic Church of St. James was built in 1837 according to plans by AWN Pugin , stylistically based on the Romanesque style of the abbey.
In 1786 a prison was built on the abbey grounds. The apse of the church and the Lady Chapel fell victim to him. The cruciform prison building with a central tower was built in 1844. It served its original purpose until 2013.
The gatehouse was the only building that remained in continuous use. In 1861 it collapsed during a storm and was then rebuilt by George Gilbert Scott in the taste of the times.
In 2009 the ruins had to be closed to the public due to the danger of collapse. A memorial concept for the Abbey Quarter was developed. After extensive security and restoration work, it reopened on June 16, 2018.
Web links
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 51 ° 27 '22.9 " N , 0 ° 57' 54" W.