Abbeys & priories · South East England
Amesbury Abbey
In or near Larkhill.
Amesbury Abbey — former abbey in the United Kingdom.
Wikimedia Commons contributors — see linked file page for photographer and licence licence
Plan your visit
- Typical visit
- 45 min–1.5 h
- Family-friendly
- Wheelchair accessible
Getting there & planning your visit
Amesbury Abbey is located in Wiltshire, South East England, with the postcode SP4 7EU. The site is wheelchair accessible.
About
Amesbury Abbey is an abbey, priory, or monastic site in the United Kingdom. Records date its origin to AD 901. Wikidata describes it as: "former abbey in the United Kingdom". Coordinates: 51.1719°, -1.7843°.
Photo gallery
Protected designations
- Site of Special Scientific Interest: River Avon System SSSI
- Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty: Cranborne Chase & West Wiltshire Downs
Designations sourced from Natural England open data under OGL v3.
From the Wikipedia article
Amesbury Abbey was a Benedictine abbey of women at Amesbury in Wiltshire, England, founded by Queen Ælfthryth in about the year 979 on what may have been the site of an earlier monastery. The abbey was dissolved in 1177 by Henry II, who founded in its place a house of the Order of Fontevraud, known as Amesbury Priory. The name Amesbury Abbey is now used by a nearby Grade I listed country house built in the 1830s, currently a nursing home.
Excerpt from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the source article linked in Sources below.
Background
History
<div style="float:right;clear:right"> </div> Amesbury was already a sacred place in pagan times, and there are legends that a monastery existed there before the Danish invasions. There may have been an existing cult of St Melor which led Ælfthryth to choose Amesbury. Melor, the son of a leader of Cornouaille and a boy-martyr, was buried at Lanmeur and venerated in Brittany, but a later tradition claims that some of his relics were brought to Amesbury and sold to the abbess. However, the 12th-century life of St Melor says the nunnery at Amesbury was founded before Melor's relics arrived. The cult of St Melor is commemorated in the dedication of the current Amesbury parish church.
Sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Coordinates
- 51.1719, -1.7843
- District
- Wiltshire
- Parish
- Amesbury
- Postcode
- SP4 7EU
- Parliamentary constituency
- East Wiltshire
Sources
- wikidata: Q4745900 (CC0)
- wikipedia: Amesbury Abbey (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- commons: Amesbury Abbey.jpg (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Other places nearby
Amesbury Abbey
Cathedrals · 0.0 km
Church of St Mary and St Melor, Amesbury
Historic churches · 0.0 km
Amesbury War Memorial
Memorials & monuments · 0.0 km
Amesbury History Centre
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Antrobus Arms
Historic pubs · 0.1 km
Amesbury Aviation Heritage Centre
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Hotels · 0.3 km
Amesbury
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Church of St Mary and St Melor, Amesbury
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Amesbury War Memorial
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Frequently asked questions
- Where is Amesbury Abbey?
- Amesbury Abbey is in South-East England, United Kingdom (postcode SP4 7EU), in the parish of Amesbury.
- What is Amesbury Abbey?
- Amesbury Abbey — former abbey in the United Kingdom.
- How do I get to Amesbury Abbey?
- Drivers can use postcode SP4 7EU.
- When was Amesbury Abbey built?
- Dates from the Anglo-Saxon period.
- Is Amesbury Abbey a protected site?
- Yes — Amesbury Abbey is part of the River Avon System SSSI Site of Special Scientific Interest and the Cranborne Chase & West Wiltshire Downs National Landscape (AONB).
- How do I get to Amesbury Abbey?
- Drivers can navigate to postcode SP4 7EU. It sits within the East Wiltshire parliamentary constituency.