Merevale Abbey

Merevale Abbey lies two kilometres west of Atherstone in Warwickshire, the remains of a Cistercian monastery founded in 1148 by Robert de Ferrers. It began as a daughter house of Bordesley Abbey and followed the customs of Cîteaux. William de Ferrers, fifth earl of Derby, was buried in the chapter house in 1254. Kings Edward I and Edward III spent nights at the abbey in 1274 and 1322. At its dissolution the house supported only about ten monks and had an annual income of 254 pounds. After the Dissolution in 1538 the site passed to Sir Walter Devereux and was turned into a farm. The Dugdale family now owns the property. The church has vanished, replaced by a cow shed on the former north side. Abbey House Farm stands just west of the lay brothers’ range, with a small building above it. Parts of the refectory survive as low walls; unusually it runs west to east along the south side of the cloister. The only standing medieval structure is the gatehouse. Its chapel is still used as the parish church. Fragments of the south and west ranges mark where the cloister once stood. Visitors walk past the farmyard and the converted church, then enter the gatehouse chapel for Sunday services. The quiet fields around the site still echo the rhythms of the Cistercian day.