Dunkeswell Abbey

Heritage listing

Details Dunkeswell Abbey is situated to the south of the Blackdown Hills in the hamlet of Abbey, some 3km to the north of the village of Dunkeswell and the parish church. It lies in permanent pasture on the west side of the wide shallow valley of the north flowing Madford River, a tributary of the River Culm. The monument, which falls into two areas, includes the known extent of the upstanding and buried remains of a Cistercian abbey in occupation between 1201 and 1539 and its associated fishponds. The visible remains of the abbey exist as a number of ruined and adapted structures laid out in the traditional monastic plan in which a church and ranges of two storied buildings were grouped around the central square open court of the cloister, with ancillary buildings further from the nucleus. They include the remains of the abbey church incorporated into the graveyard of a Victorian church, the west range of the cloister, in part incorporated into the buildings of Abbey Meadows farm, the gatehouse, in part incorporated into Abbey Cottage, and the fishponds. The walls are of random rubble construction utilising local chert and flint, roughly squared into blocks, with ashlar and carved details in sandstone, and Ham and Beer limestone. The abbey church was of cruciform plan, aligned east-west, and about 56m in length. The south west corner of the nave joins with the north east corner of the west range. Sections of the west front, up to 1.4m in height, are visible in the boundary walls of the graveyard, and include the north west corner of the church and a 7.5m length of the north wall. The width of the nave was 17.2m. The position of the north transept is marked by a raised area in the field to the north of the Victorian church. Part of the north wall of the presbytery is vi

From the Historic England List Entry under OGL v3.