Lesnes Abbey

In 1178 Lesnes Abbey was founded by Richard de Luci, one of Henry II's 'gentelmen officers', as a house for Austin Canons. Lesnes was never a large or important foundation, and suffered much financial difficulty due to the continual maintenance costs of the river walls

When Cardinal Wolsey suppressed several of the smaller religious houses in the early 16th century to endow his college at Oxford, Lesnes Abbey was one of the first abbeys to 'come under the axe' in 1525. The buildings had by then fallen into quite a state of disrepair, with little money available for restoration work, and this resulted in further neglect. Eventually, the church and claustral buildings were demolished, and the stones were sold for building material.

With such fragmentary remains, the site today resembles little more than a few 'piles of rubble' and this is only due to some reconstruction of the foundation stones following two major excavations in the first half of the 20th century. Despite the lack of walls (with the exception of one wall of the dormitory which still stands to a good height) and detail, it is possible to gain an idea of the original layout of the buildings.

There also appears to be something of a void in the abbey's documented history. One delightful story that is told about Lesnes Abbey concerns the great, great, grand daughter of the founder. Roesia, as a young girl, was brought up in the abbey and, apparently, lived a very happy life there. In time, she married and moved away, but on her death her heart was returned to Lesnes Abbey to be buried in the place she held a great affection for.

Visitors to Lesnes Abbey today are treated not only to the fascinating ruins of a religious foundation, but also to some spectacular displays of wild flowers, birds and other wildlife to be found along the glorious woodland walks throughout the park. It forms an interesting visual concept - the traditionally serene setting of a medieval monastic foundation now upstaged by 20th century tower blocks and an extremely busy arterial road into central London as its nearest neighbour.