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Photo of Lindisfarne Priory, a ruined priory near Holy Island (Lindisfarne), Northumberland, north east England.

Lindisfarne Priory© August Schwerdfeger / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0

Abbeys & priories

518 monastic places — the great houses dissolved in 1536 and the holy wells that are older than any of them, weathering beautifully in valleys chosen eight centuries ago for their peace.

See them on the map

Browse by kindCistercian abbeys 24Benedictine houses 26Augustinian houses 27Premonstratensian houses 13Charterhouses 8Gilbertine houses 3Franciscan friaries 6Dominican friaries 10Templar preceptories 4Hospitaller preceptories 4Holy wells 27

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OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles · data from OpenStreetMap · terrain Mapzen/AWS

The finest abbeysnational icons and local highlights

Photo of Lindisfarne Priory, a ruined priory near Holy Island (Lindisfarne), Northumberland, north east England.Iconic

Lindisfarne Priory

Cradle of English Christianity, red-stone ruin.

Northumberland

Photo of Melrose Abbey, a ruined abbey in Eildon and Leaderfoot, the Scottish Borders, southern Scotland.Iconic

Melrose Abbey

Finest of the ruined Border abbeys.

Scottish Borders

Photo of Rievaulx Abbey, a ruined abbey in the North York Moors, North Yorkshire, northern England.Iconic

Rievaulx Abbey

Soaring Cistercian ruin in a wooded valley.

North Yorkshire

Photo of Tintern Abbey, a ruined abbey in the Wye Valley, Monmouthshire, south east Wales.Iconic

Tintern Abbey

Roofless Cistercian abbey in the Wye Valley.

Monmouthshire

Photo of Whitby Abbey, a ruined monastery in North Yorkshire, northern England.Iconic

Whitby Abbey

Gaunt clifftop ruin above the harbour town.

North Yorkshire

Photo of Glastonbury Abbey, a ruined abbey in Somerset, south west England.Iconic

Glastonbury Abbey

Soaring ruins tied to the Arthur legend.

Somerset

Photo of Arbroath Abbey, a ruined abbey in the Angus, north east Scotland.Iconic

Arbroath Abbey

Ruin of the Declaration of Arbroath.

Angus

Photo of Battle Abbey, a ruined abbey in the High Weald, East Sussex, south east England.Iconic

Battle Abbey

Ruined abbey on the 1066 battlefield.

East Sussex

Photo of Dryburgh Abbey, a ruined abbey near Melrose in Eildon and Leaderfoot, the Scottish Borders, southern Scotland.Iconic

Dryburgh Abbey

Romantic riverside ruin, Scott's grave.

Scottish Borders

Photo of Fountains Abbey, a ruined abbey near Ripon in Nidderdale, North Yorkshire, northern England.Iconic

Fountains Abbey

The greatest monastic ruin in Britain, in a Yorkshire water garden.

North Yorkshire

Photo of Jedburgh Abbey, a ruined abbey in the Scottish Borders, southern Scotland.Iconic

Jedburgh Abbey

Towering red-stone Border abbey ruin.

Scottish Borders

Photo of St Andrews Cathedral, a cathedral in Fife, central Scotland.Iconic

St Andrews Cathedral

Ruins of Scotland's largest medieval cathedral.

Fife

Photo of Sweetheart Abbey, a ruined abbey near New Abbey in the Nith Estuary, Dumfries and Galloway, southern Scotland.Iconic

Sweetheart Abbey

Rose-red Cistercian ruin near the Solway.

Dumfries and Galloway

Photo of Furness Abbey, a ruined abbey near Ulverston, Cumbria, north west England.Iconic

Furness Abbey

Vast red-sandstone monastic ruin in a wooded vale.

Cumbria

Photo of Odda's Chapel, a chapel near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, south west England.Highlight

Odda's Chapel

One of England's most complete Saxon chapels, built in 1056 and rediscovered inside a farmhouse at Deerhurst.

Gloucestershire

Photo of Mount Grace Priory, a ruined priory near Osmotherley in the North York Moors, North Yorkshire, northern England.Highlight

Mount Grace Priory

Best-preserved Carthusian monastery in England.

North Yorkshire

Photo of Reculver Towers and Roman Fort, a ruined monastery near Fordwich, Kent, south east England.Highlight

Reculver Towers and Roman Fort

Reculver Saxon Shore fort, Anglo-Saxon monastery and associated remains

Kent

Photo of St Patrick's Chapel & Rock-cut Graves, a ruined chapel near Heysham, Lancashire, north west England.Highlight

St Patrick's Chapel & Rock-cut Graves

Ruined Anglo-Saxon chapel and body-shaped graves cut into the headland rock above Morecambe Bay at Heysham.

Lancashire

Photo of Byland Abbey, a ruined abbey near Coxwold in the North York Moors, North Yorkshire, northern England.Highlight

Byland Abbey

Ruined abbey with a great rose window.

North Yorkshire

Photo of Kelso Abbey, a ruined abbey in the Scottish Borders, southern Scotland.Highlight

Kelso Abbey

Fragment of a once-great Border abbey.

Scottish Borders

Photo of Muchelney Abbey, a ruined abbey near Somerton, Somerset, south west England.Highlight

Muchelney Abbey

Benedictine ruins amid the Somerset Levels.

Somerset

Photo of Buckland Abbey, a ruined abbey near Plymouth in the Tamar Valley, Devon, south west England.Highlight

Buckland Abbey

Cistercian abbey turned Drake's Elizabethan home.

Devon

Photo of St Benet's Abbey, a ruined abbey near Ranworth in the Broads, Norfolk, eastern England.Highlight

St Benet's Abbey

An 18th-century drainage mill built straight through a Benedictine gatehouse.

Norfolk

Photo of Bury St Edmunds Abbey, a ruined abbey in Suffolk, eastern England.Highlight

Bury St Edmunds Abbey

Great ruined abbey beside the cathedral gardens.

Suffolk

Photo of Kirkstall Abbey, a ruined abbey near Leeds, West Yorkshire, northern England.Highlight

Kirkstall Abbey

Complete Cistercian ruin beside the Aire.

West Yorkshire

Photo of St Catherine's Chapel, Abbotsbury, a ruined chapel in Dorset, south west England.Highlight

St Catherine's Chapel, Abbotsbury

Stout 14th-century chapel with a stone-vaulted roof, raised by Abbotsbury's monks for pilgrims on a lone hilltop looking over Chesil Beach.

Dorset

Photo of Bayham Abbey, a ruined abbey near Lamberhurst in the High Weald, East Sussex, south east England.Highlight

Bayham Abbey

Premonstratensian Abbey at Bayham

East Sussex

Photo of Inchmahome Priory, a ruined priory near Port of Menteith in Loch Lomond & The Trossachs, Stirling, central Scotland.Highlight

Inchmahome Priory

Island priory on the Lake of Menteith.

Stirling

Photo of Netley Abbey, a ruined abbey near Hamble-le-Rice, Hampshire, south east England.Highlight

Netley Abbey

Romantic ivy-clad Cistercian abbey ruins.

Hampshire

Photo of Roche Abbey, a ruined abbey near Blyth, South Yorkshire, northern England.Highlight

Roche Abbey

Cistercian ruin in a Capability Brown valley.

South Yorkshire

Photo of Strata Florida Abbey, a ruined abbey near Pontrhydfendigaid, Ceredigion, mid Wales.Highlight

Strata Florida Abbey

Remote Cistercian ruin with carved west doorway.

Ceredigion

Photo of Valle Crucis Abbey, a ruined abbey near Llangollen in the Clwydian Range & Dee Valley, Denbighshire, north Wales.Highlight

Valle Crucis Abbey

Cistercian ruins in a green Llangollen valley.

Denbighshire

Photo of Waverley Abbey, a ruined monastery near Tilford, Surrey, south east England.Highlight

Waverley Abbey

England's first Cistercian abbey, riverside ruins.

Surrey

Photo of Wenlock Priory, a ruined priory near Much Wenlock, Shropshire, central England.Highlight

Wenlock Priory

Romantic monastic ruins with topiary gardens.

Shropshire

Photo of Whithorn Priory, a ruined priory in Dumfries and Galloway, southern Scotland.Highlight

Whithorn Priory

Cradle of Scottish Christianity.

Dumfries and Galloway

More abbeys to explore483

Abbeys in Bedfordshire 4

Abbeys in Berkshire 4

Abbeys in Buckinghamshire 5

Abbeys in Cambridgeshire 12

Abbeys in Cheshire 5

Abbeys in Cornwall 15

Abbeys in County Durham 3

Abbeys in Cumbria 7

Abbeys in Derbyshire 3

Abbeys in Devon 18

Abbeys in Dorset 11

Abbeys in East Riding of Yorkshire 9

Abbeys in East Sussex 5

Abbeys in Essex 14

Abbeys in Gloucestershire 8

Abbeys in Hampshire 9

Abbeys in Herefordshire 7

Abbeys in Hertfordshire 5

Abbeys in Kent 22

Abbeys in Lancashire 8

Abbeys in Leicestershire 9

Abbeys in Lincolnshire 42

Abbeys in London 6

Abbeys in Norfolk 30

Abbeys in North Yorkshire 22

Abbeys in Northamptonshire 6

Abbeys in Northumberland 8

Abbeys in Nottinghamshire 6

Abbeys in Oxfordshire 9

Abbeys in Shropshire 8

Abbeys in Somerset 14

Abbeys in Staffordshire 7

Abbeys in Suffolk 20

Abbeys in Warwickshire 12

Abbeys in West Midlands 6

Abbeys in West Sussex 4

Abbeys in West Yorkshire 5

Abbeys in Wiltshire 3

Abbeys in Worcestershire 4

Abbeys elsewhere in England 7

Abbeys in Aberdeenshire 3

Abbeys in Argyll and Bute 10

Abbeys in Dumfries and Galloway 6

Abbeys in Fife 6

Abbeys in Highland 4

Abbeys in Moray 3

Abbeys in Orkney Islands 3

Abbeys in Perth and Kinross 6

Abbeys elsewhere in Central Scotland 7

Abbeys elsewhere in Southern Scotland 5

Abbeys elsewhere in Scotland 3

Abbeys in Carmarthenshire 4

Abbeys in Gwynedd 3

Abbeys in Pembrokeshire 4

Abbeys elsewhere in North Wales 5

Abbeys elsewhere in South East Wales 5

Abbeys elsewhere in Wales 4