Robertsbridge Abbey

Robertsbridge Abbey lies in the village of Robertsbridge in East Sussex. Founded in 1176 by Alured and Alicia de St Martin, it was a Cistercian monastery on low-lying land that suffered frequent flooding from the sea. The abbey never grew wealthy or influential and was dissolved in 1538 when Abbot Thomas Taylor surrendered it during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. At that time eight monks lived there. After the Dissolution the site passed to Sir William Sydney. The only major structure still standing is the Abbot’s House, built around 1250. This stone building, now part of a private home, has brick buttresses at the rear and a tiled roof with a steep pitch. Beneath it lies a small crypt. The house is listed at grade I for its historic importance. In the garden behind the house the remains of a rectangular stone building can be seen. That building formed part of the frater, the monks’ refectory, whose ruins are separately listed at grade II*. The abbey’s quiet setting and the contrast between the medieval stonework and later alterations give the site a plain but dignified air. Visitors walk past the house and into the garden to view the ruins and imagine the daily life that once filled the cloister.