Cleeve Abbey, Somerset
=How to get there.=–From Paddington. Great Western Station. To
Washford Station via Taunton.
=Nearest Station.=–Washford (2 or 3 minutes’ walk).
=Distance from London.=–182-1/4 miles.
=Average Time.=–Varies between 5-1/2 to 7 hours.
1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=–Single 30s. 4d. 19s. 0d. 15s. 3d.
Return 53s. 0d. 33s. 3d. 30s. 4d.
=Accommodation Obtainable.=–"Luttrell Arms Hotel,” “Dunster,"
4-1/2 miles from Washford. “Métropole,” “Beach,” “Plume of
Feathers,” etc., at Minehead, 6-1/2 miles from Washford.
At Cleeve the Cistercian abbey church has disappeared, save for the
bases of the pillars in the nave, but the conventual buildings are some
of the most perfect in England, those of Beaulieu in Hampshire and
Fountains in Yorkshire being the only ones able to compare with them.
One first passes through the magnificent old gatehouse pictured here.
Inside is a large grassy space, with the mass of buildings facing one.
They are arranged in a quadrangular form, enclosing a grassy cloister
garth. On the south side is the refectory, a magnificent hall above some
small rooms on the ground floor. It is believed to have been built by
Abbot Dovell in the sixteenth century. The roof, of carved walnut, is in
a perfect state of preservation. From the refectory one may pass into
the Abbots’ Lodge, then descending to the cloister garth again, one may
penetrate all the different portions of the buildings–the day-room,
where the monks did all sorts of work; the dormitory, where they slept;
the chapter-house, where they conducted the business of the abbey; the
sacristy, the parlour, and other smaller rooms. The buildings are so
perfect that it is quite easy to obtain a comprehensive idea of the
inner workings of one of these great mediaeval institutions.
The monks’ day-room is a large building 60 feet long by 22 feet wide.
The upper floor, forming one half of the dormitory, has disappeared, but
there still remain the bases of the two central pillars which supported
the groined roof. The restoration of Cleeve Abbey was carried out
several years ago by Mr. G.F. Luttrell of Dunster Castle. Before that
time the whole place was used as a farm, and floors of encaustic tiles
were buried deep in farm-yard rubbish. There is practically no recorded
history of Cleeve Abbey.
One shilling is charged for admission for one person, or sixpence each
for a party of two or more.
[Illustration: THE GATE-HOUSE OF CLEEVE ABBEY.
The monastic buildings are all beyond the grassy space inside the
gateway.]
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Preface •
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Walton-On-Thames (scold’s Bridle) •
Harrow •
Holwood House, Keston •
Chigwell, Essex •
Waltham Abbey and Cross •
Downe •
Epsom: Its Races and Its Salts •
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Hampton Court •
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The Oldest Brass in England •
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St. Michael’s Mount and Marazion •
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The Quintain Post At Offham and Malling Abbey •
Eversley •
Farnham, Surrey •
Hindhead, Surrey •
Shottermill •
Penn’s Chapel At Thakeham, Sussex •
Chawton the Home of Jane Austen •
Selborne •
Elstow •
Lewes, Sussex •
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Colchester, Essex •
Layer Marney •
Battle Abbey •
Cambridge •
Arundel Castle •
Olney, Bucks •
Wantage and the Country of Alfred the Great •
Canterbury and Its Cathedral •
Reculvers •
Oxford •
Midhurst •
Pevensey Castle •
Savernake Forest •
Ely Cathedral •
St. Ives, Huntingdonshire •
Winchelsea and Rye •
Blenheim Palace •
Peterborough Cathedral and Crowland •
Peterborough •
Southampton •
Helmingham Hall •
Stonehenge, Wiltshire •
Netley Abbey •
Salisbury and Its Cathedral •
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Belvoir Castle •
Bath •
Boston and the Pilgrim Fathers •
Warwick •
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Norfolk Broads •
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Lichfield •
Sherborne and Its Abbey Church •
Newark •
Wells and Its Cathedral •
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Corfe Castle •
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Somerset, the Birthplace of Tennyson •
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Walsingham, Norfolk •
Cheddar Caves, Cheddar, Somerset •
Newstead Abbey •
The Wessex of Thomas Hardy’s Romances •
Tintern Abbey •
Chesterfield, Derbyshire •
Dukeries •
Haddon Hall, Derbyshire •
The Isle of Athelney, and Sedgemoor •
Raglan Castle •
Dovedale •
Wellington and the Wrekin, Shropshire •
Wroxeter and the Roman City of Uriconium, Salop •
Buildwas Abbey, Shropshire •
Ludlow and Its Castle •
Shrewsbury •
Buxton and the Peak District •
Tewkesbury •
Exeter and Its Cathedral •
Market Drayton, Salop •
Chester •
Exmoor •
Knutsford •
Torr Steps On the Barle, Somerset •
Cleeve Abbey, Somerset •
Hawarden •
York Minster •
Coxwold, Yorkshire •
Llangollen and Valle Crucis Abbey •
Knaresborough, Dripping Well •
Fountains Abbey •
Ripon Cathedral •
Dartmoor •
Haworth •
Rievaulx Abbey •
Brixham, Devon •
Conway Castle •
The Doone Valley, Exmoor •
Llandovery, South Wales •
Dartmouth, Devon •
Richmond, Yorkshire •
Tintagel •
Whitby •
Carnarvon Castle •
Plymouth •
Durham and Its Cathedral •
Raby Castle, Durham •
Snowdon •
Harlech Castle •
Grasmere and Rydal Mount •
The Lake District •
St. Davids Cathedral •
Furness Abbey, Lancashire •
Monkwearmouth, Near Jarrow •
The Isle of Man •
Brantwood •
Fowey •
Hexham and Hadrian’s Wall •
The Lake District •
Keswick •
Alnwick Castle •
Lanercost Priory, Cumberland •
Lanercost Priory and Stepping-Stones.] •
St. Ives, Cornwall •
Bamborough Castle, Northumberland
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