Malmesbury Abbey

From its commanding hilltop position, Malmesbury Abbey - now only a third of its original size - almost swamps the busy little market town. Originally founded as a Benedictine Monastery during Saxon times, part of Malmesbury Abbey is still in use today as the local parish church. In common with many of these great buildings, Malmesbury Abbey has had its fair share of misfortunes and disasters, resulting in the changing faces of the abbey throughout the last 800 years. Some restoration and alterations were carried out as early as the mid-14th century, but at the beginning of the 16th century the spire and central tower fell, completely destroying the east end of the church.

Following the Dissolution, the remains of the Malmesbury Abbey became the parish church, but c1662 the West Tower fell and destroyed three of the western nave bays. The surviving six Norman bays, with their huge cylindrical pillars supporting the slighted pointed arches (typical of the Romanesque period), form the basis of the present church. Perched over one of the southern nave arcades is an unusual box construction known as the 'watching loft'. Several ideas have been examined to discover the purpose of this box but it still remains unclear as what is was actually used for.

From a door in the south aisle, a winding staircase leads up to the Parvise - used now as a store for some of Malmesbury Abbey's great treasures. There are ancient manuscripts thought to have belonged to the great monastic scholar, William of Malmesbury, four volumes of an early 15th century, exquisitely illustrated, manuscript Bible, old silver and many pictures. It is an absolutely priceless and fascinating historic collection.

Throughout the church there are many beautiful Norman carvings, but the most detailed and interesting collection are those around the entrance porch. These magnificent and intricate carvings depict many of the Bible stories and scenes from the life of Christ. On the inside of the porch are even more superb examples of the skilled craftsmanship of the Norman masons, in the form of the twelve Apostles.

Running along the north side of the abbey church, where the original cloister would have been, a garden has been laid out. At the east end a 'garden of remembrance' has been created in the space left by the collapse of the central tower. Walking back along the public footpath, which skirts the western side of the church, it is possible to locate the position of the original west door from the finely carved corner turret that survives.

Malmesbury is such a spectacular abbey, in a quiet unassuming way, and holds an enormous wealth of interesting history and famous connections, both royal and monastic, that it would be a tragedy not to take any opportunity to visit. I promise you will not be disappointed.