Cathedrals · South West England
Amesbury Abbey
Amesbury Abbey is a cathedral in the United Kingdom.
Basher Eyre — CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons licence
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Plan your visit
- Typical visit
- 1 h–2 h
- Best time of year
- Year-round
- Family-friendly
- Wheelchair accessible
About
Amesbury Abbey is a cathedral in england south west, United Kingdom — the principal church of its diocese, dating from 901. Cathedrals are seats of bishops in the Church of England, the Roman Catholic Church, and other Christian denominations across Britain.
Photo gallery
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
- Established
- 901
Sources
- wikidata: Q4745900 (CC0)
- wikipedia: Amesbury Abbey (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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Frequently asked questions
- Where is Amesbury Abbey?
- Amesbury Abbey is in South-West England, United Kingdom (postcode SP4 7EU), in the parish of Amesbury.
- When was Amesbury Abbey built?
- Built or established in 901.
- How do I get to Amesbury Abbey?
- Drivers can navigate to postcode SP4 7EU. It sits within the East Wiltshire parliamentary constituency.