Muchelney Abbey facts for kids
The Church of St Peter and St Paul in the background. In the foreground are the ruins of the main Abbey building.
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 Location in Somerset
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| Monastery information | |
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| Order | Benedictine |
| Established | 10th century |
| Disestablished | 1538 |
| People | |
| Founder(s) | Cynewulf, Centwine, Ine, Æthelstan and Æthelred |
| Site | |
| Location | Muchelney, Somerset, England |
| Coordinates | 51°1′0″N 2°39′14″W / 51.01667°N 2.65389°W |
Muchelney Abbey is a cool historical site in the village of Muchelney in the Somerset Levels, England. It's looked after by English Heritage.
At the abbey, you can see the ruined walls of the old abbey buildings, which were built between the 600s and 1500s. The Abbot's House, where the head of the abbey lived, is still standing and in good shape. The site is right next to the local church, and some parts of the old abbey were even used to build that church.
Muchelney Abbey includes the remains of a medieval Benedictine monastery. A Benedictine monastery is a place where monks (religious men) live and work together according to the rules of Saint Benedict. There was also an even older Anglo-Saxon abbey on this spot. The Abbot's House is a Tudor house from the 1500s and is now a very important historical building, called a Grade I listed building. The abbey ruins are protected as an ancient monument.
The abbey was first started in the 600s or 700s. It was damaged by Vikings who raided the area, but it was rebuilt in the 900s. The abbey owned and managed land nearby. Its buildings grew bigger from the 1100s to the 1500s. But then, in 1538, King Henry VIII closed down monasteries in England, an event known as the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Most of the abbey buildings were pulled down, and their stones were used for other buildings in the area. However, the Abbot's House and a special toilet building called a reredorter survived. Some of the decorative tiles from the abbey church were moved to the nearby Church of St Peter and St Paul. Since 1927, the ruins have been owned by the public.
A Look at Muchelney Abbey's Past
The abbey was built on what was like an island in the wet, marshy Somerset Levels. People believe a religious building was first put here as early as 693. King Cynewulf gave permission for it in 762, but the Benedictine monks didn't settle there until the 900s. Viking raids in the area caused damage, so the abbey had to be rebuilt.
It's not totally clear who rebuilt the abbey. But a document from 1535 says that Centwine, Ine, Æthelstan and Æthelred helped start it again. Some stories say that King Æthelstan helped as a way to make up for killing Atheling Edwin in 933, or after winning the Battle of Brunanburh in 937. While a document from King Ine is thought to be fake, it might have some truth to it. These old documents are now kept at the Museum of Somerset.
According to the Domesday Book survey from the 1000s, Muchelney Abbey owned the islands of Muchelney, Midelney, and Thorney. Back then, in 1086, the abbey paid a tax of 6,000 eels every year! These eels were caught from the local rivers and marshes.
Many of the abbey buildings were constructed in the 1100s. The abbot (the head monk) successfully took over the nearby Perry Moor and other areas. He helped drain and manage these lands. Around 1308, the abbey built The Priest's House for the local priest. This house is now owned by the National Trust and is also a protected building. Much of the abbey was rebuilt by abbots William Wyke (from 1489-1504) and Thomas Broke (from 1505-1522). They got money for this by renting out the abbey's farm land.
Between the 1200s and the time the abbey closed, five monks from Muchelney went to the University of Oxford to study. By the 1500s, the abbey included its main church, a farm, a place for giving to the poor (called an almonry), the local parish church of St Peter and St Paul, and a stone Cross from the 1400s. The main abbey church was built where an early Saxon church once stood.
In 1535, an investigation into the finances of monasteries found that Muchelney Abbey gave out about £6 13s 4d in cash to the poor. This was a lot of money back then!
In 1538, the monks gave up the abbey, its land, and all its belongings to King Henry VIII. This was part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The main abbey buildings were then torn down. However, some of the beautiful floor tiles were moved and relaid in the nearby Church of St Peter and St Paul. The whole property was then given to Edward Seymour, who later became the 1st Duke of Somerset. When he was executed in 1552, the property went back to the King. Stones from the abbey were used to build many other buildings in the area. In 1872, workers found a blue stone coffin lid, and underneath it, they uncovered the floor of the 14th-century lady chapel. In 1924, a big historical show was held at the site, with about 500 people acting out the abbey's history from its beginning to its closing.
In 1927, the ruins of the abbey were taken over by the Office of Works, and later by English Heritage. The Abbot's House was officially named a Grade I listed building in 1959, meaning it's a very important historical site.
What Muchelney Abbey Looks Like
Muchelney Abbey is the second largest abbey in Somerset, after Glastonbury Abbey. The church itself was about 192 feet (58.5 meters) long and 52 feet (15.8 meters) wide. Of the main abbey building, only some of the foundation walls are left. You can also see parts of the south cloister (a covered walkway) and the north wall of the refectory (the monks' dining hall). The south cloister still has parts of its arched walkways and a special ceiling called a fan vault.
The only building that is still fully standing is the Abbot's House. It has many well-preserved features, like its stone walls on the outside. Inside, there's a large room called the great chamber with a fancy fireplace, a carved wooden bench, and stained glass windows. It also has a timber roof. Some of the old wall paintings inside the Abbot's House need to be fixed up.
A very special and unusual part of the abbey is the nearby two-story monks' reredorter, which was their toilet building. It has a thatched roof and is thought to be unique in Britain.
There is also a barn to the west of the abbey that is a protected historical site.
See also
In Spanish: Abadía de Muchelney para niños
