Town Church, Abbey Stones

Town Church, Abbey Stones. Abbey Quarter. , This church is called Reading Minster. In the 1550s it was rebuilt, using stones, timber, lead and tiles from Reading Abbey. Henry VIII had closed the abbey in 1539 and building materials from the site were re-used all over Reading., Tower and pillars , Abbey stones were used to completely rebuild the tower. Inside the church are stone pillars that could be from the abbey. Over the years they have tilted-not quite as far as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but give them another couple of hundred years..., Ancient doorway , In the 900s, long before Reading Abbey was founded. there was an Anglo-Saxon nunnery (all-female religious community) on this site. This doorway inside the church may have been may have led to the nuns living quarters., ------- , The street on your left is called St Mary's Butts. 'Butts' are not what you're thinking... they're actually archery targets. Before the army had guns, all men practised archery on Sundays, so they would be ready to go to war. Reading's archery butts were here, on the edge of the churchyard., Timeline , 1121 Henry funds Reading Abbey , 1164 Henry and 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 , 1551-55 Reading Minster rebuilt with materials from Reading Abbey , 1560 Elizabeth I grants a new town charter , 1643 Abbey church is severely damaged in Civil War , 1833 People of Reading fundraise to buy Abbey Ruins , 1861 Abbey Gateway restored by George Gilbert Scott , 1920 Reading Pageant in the Abbey Ruins , 2018 Abbey Ruins re-open after major conservation works