Early history The name ‘Abingdon’ until the post Norman era related to an area of nearby Boars Hill, and it is thought the institution originated in that location, before relocating south to the valley location near the minster at what was originally known as Helenstowe. The abbey is thought to have been founded in 675 either by
Cissa, viceroy of
Centwine, king of the
West Saxons, or by his nephew
Hean, in honour of the
Virgin Mary, for twelve
Benedictine monks. Cissa was buried at the abbey. Endowed by successive West Saxon kings, it grew in importance and wealth until its destruction by the
Danes in the reign of
King Alfred, and the sequestration of its estates by Alfred because the monks had not made him a sufficient requital for vanquishing their enemies. By the 950s the abbey was in a decayed state, but in about 954 King
Eadred appointed
Æthelwold, later
Bishop of Winchester, abbot. He was one of the leaders of the
English Benedictine Reform, and Abingdon then became the second centre of the Reform (after
Glastonbury). There is a collection of 136 charters granted to this abbey by various Saxon kings. The
Domesday Book of 1086 states that the abbey was a wealthy and powerful landowner. The
Chronicle of the Monastery of Abingdon (
Historia Ecclesie Abbendonensis) was written at the abbey in the twelfth century.
Sutton Courtenay , was the
rectory of the abbey. In
Sutton Courtenay, Abingdon Abbey constructed
The Abbey as a
monastic grange, used as an administrative centre for the abbey's land and tithe holdings. He was not convicted of any offence.
Abbots ", dated to 1461, depicts the donor and the Abbey's abbot William Ashenden kneeling to the bottom left of the
crucifixion. The manuscript is held by the
Bodleian Library, Oxford. Abbots after the
Norman Conquest included
Faritius, physician to
Henry I of England (1100–17), and Richard of Hendred, for whose appointment the King's consent was obtained in 1262. He was present at the
Council of Lyon in 1272. The last abbot was Thomas Pentecost alias Rowland, who was among the first to acknowledge the
Royal Supremacy. With the rest of his community he signed the surrender of his monastery in 1538, receiving the manor of
Cumnor for life or until he had preferment to the extent of £223 per annum. The revenues of the abbey (26 Hen. VIII) were valued at £1876, 10s, 9d.
Burials Ælfric of Abingdon was originally buried here, before being translated to
Canterbury Cathedral.
Sideman, Bishop of Crediton, was buried here, too, as were
Margaret, Countess of Pembroke, and
Fulk FitzRoy. ;Other burials •
Robert D'Oyly and his wife Ealdgyth •
Siward (Abbot of Abingdon) •
Ralph Basset and his father Thurston Ralph Bassett •
John Grey, 2nd Viscount Lisle •
Margaret, Countess of Pembroke •
Mary of Waltham ==Extant buildings==