Athelney Abbey

Athelney Abbey stands on a small island in the Somerset Levels, once surrounded by swampland and alders. King Alfred founded it in 888 as a Benedictine monastery after taking refuge there from Danish invaders. The original church had four piers and four circular chancels, and Alfred brought monks from France under Abbot John the Old Saxon. The abbey was dedicated to four saints, including St Egelwine, suggesting it may have enlarged an earlier hermitage. The abbey’s history includes struggles with Glastonbury Abbey over control and a modest income recorded in the Domesday Book. Henry III granted it a weekly market in 1267, but the community remained poor, often petitioning the king for financial relief. It was finally surrendered in 1540, and its buildings were later demolished, leaving no visible remains above ground. Today the site is marked by King Alfred’s Monument, built in 1801 by Sir John Slade. The monument recalls Alfred’s year in hiding and his founding of the monastery. Geophysical surveys have revealed buried foundations and graves, including one unusually long skeleton. The monument and the surveys keep the memory of Athelney alive beneath the quiet fields of Somerset.