Elstow Abbey

The modern church dedicated to St Mary and St Helen used to extend eastwards for some considerable distance, and contained a central tower, chancel, and Lady chapel. The foundation stones still reportedly cause much trouble to the sexton, though he sometimes unearths beautiful tiles from the old chancel floor. The monastery was known to have been involved in numerous lawsuits, with an array of monasteries including that of Dunstable Priory, Newhouse and St Albans Abbey, concerning the advowson of various parishes. The nuns often appear to have resorted to aggressive behaviour. There was further trouble in the 14th century when the nearby hospital of St Leonard needed to close and divert a…

Three bays of the church are Norman, (about 1075); the two western bays are of Early English style, about 1225. In 1539, during the suppression, much was lost. By 1580, the east end had been completed, with a west window, and detached tower. A watercolour by Thomas Fisher (c.1815) shows a timber-framed north porch. From 1823 to 1828, restoration work was done. Around 1860, a vestry on the north side of the church was demolished. From 1880 to 1882 restoration work was done, by architect Thomas Jobson Jackson. In 1883 and 1885, the John Bunyan stained glass windows by the firm of Camm Brothers were added in the east wall. It became a listed building on 13 July 1964.