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Summary

The majority of the Abbey Church has been demolished and robbed with the exception of parts of the south transept which stand as ruins. Excavation at the east end has revealed an apsidal chapel.

Monument Type(s):

• CHURCH (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• BURIAL (Medieval - 1121 AD to 1539 AD)

Description

The Abbey Church was constructed in a Romanesque style consisting eight round pillars down each side of the nave, tiled floors. Excavations by Cecil Slade in 1971-3 revealed an apsidal chapel at the east and the north and south sides of the ambulatory. During this excavation two burials were found. One of these was against the inside of the north footings of the central chapel where a skeleton and coffin-nails were found. The other was in the South Ambulatory near the inner footings where there was a coffined skeleton <1>.

In 2017 and 2018, an archaeological watching brief recorded fragments of a rubble wall, forming the lost wall between the two transept chapels, with a stone slab, later revealed to be part of a structural niche or small recess in the transept wall. A partially exposed squared masonry block with sib-circular torus located northwest of the south transept is likely to be the base of a pier, probably from the arcade in the presbytery <6>.

<1> Berkshire Archaeological Society, 1975-6, Berkshire Archaeological Journal, Pages 29-70 "Excavations at Reading Abbey 1971-3" by C. Slade (Journal). SRD6873.

<2> Knowles and Hadcock R N, 1953, Medieval Religious Houses (Bibliographic reference). SRD6858.

<3> Astill, G.G, 1978, Historic towns in Berkshire: An archaeological appraisal (Bibliographic reference). SRD6871.

<4> Kemp B R, 1968, Reading Abbey: An Introduction to the History of the Abbey (Bibliographic reference). SRD6872.

<5> Berkshire Archaeological Society, 1975-6, Berkshire Archaeological Journal, "Excavations at Reading Abbey 1971-3" by C. Slade (Journal). SRD6873.

<6> Museum of London Archaeology, 2018, Reading Abbey Ruins and Gateway, The Forbury, Reading - Report on an Archaeological Watching Brief (Unpublished document). SRM15607.

Sources

Designations

• Scheduled Monument 1007932: Reading Abbey: a Cluniac and Benedictine monastery and Civil War earthwork.

Associated Events:

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds:

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.