Abbey Quarter

Abbey Quarter. Abbey Gateway. , This gateway divided the monks' private living quarters from the more public areas of the abbey. In the 1560s, Queen Elizabeth I turned the abbot's house, which stood just through the gateway, into a royal palace. , After Elizabeth's death, the palace fell out of use and eventually new houses were built alongside the gateway. In the 18th century one of them was home to the Reading Ladies' Boarding School, which used the gateway as a classroom. From 1785-86 a particularly talented pupil studied here: the future novelist Jane Austen., Hanged, drawn and quartered , In 1539, King Henry VIII closed Reading Abbey, along with all the other abbeys and priories in England. Reading's abbot, Hugh Cook of Faringdon, questioned Henry's right to close the abbey and was accused of treason. He was executed by hanging, drawing and quartering, very close to this spot, on 14 November 1539., When the monks lived at the abbey, this gate was guarded by a porter, who had a little room to the side of the gate where he could keep warm in winter. His job was to meet people at the gate and welcome them, or send them packing. Only men were allowed through the gate - women were strictly forbidden., Timeline , 1121 Henry I founds Reading Abbey , 1164 Henry II attends official opening of Reading Abbey , 1254 Reading receives royal charter from Henry III , 1453 Parliament meets at Reading Abbey , 1539 Henry VIII closes Reading Abbey, Abbot Hugh is executed , 1560 Elizabeth I grants a new town charter , 1643 Abbey church is severely damaged in Civil War , 1785 Jane Austen goes to school at the Abbey Gateway , 1833 People of Reading fundraise to buy Abbey Ruins , 1861 Abbey Gateway is restored by George Gilbert Scott , 1920 Reading Pageant in the Abbey Ruins , 2018 Abbey Ruins re-open after major conservation works