Denny Abbey

Denny Abbey stands on a quiet lane six miles north of Cambridge, beside an old road once used by travellers between Cambridge and Ely. The surviving church and refectory belong to a monastery that was home to three different orders over the centuries. A 17th-century barn, built from stones taken from the abbey, still stands among the ruins. The site was first settled in Roman times and appears in the Domesday Book as land owned by Edith the Fair in 1066. Benedictine monks arrived in the 1150s and built a priory that opened in 1159. Knights Templar later enlarged the buildings and turned part of the site into a hospital for sick members of their order. Visitors today walk through the restored church and refectory, where the Poor Clares once lived in simple quarters. The Farmland Museum occupies converted farm buildings and displays tools, machinery and a 1940s labourer’s cottage. A 17th-century barn houses exhibits on local farming history and crafts.