Wymondham Abbey

Having lived in Norfolk my whole life and having driven past the abbey and Wymondham several times I had never actually visited the Abbey before. So back in 2013 I finally made it to the Abbey and had a wander around both inside and outside the building. It is hard to believe that Norfolk would have such a large Benedictine Abbey just under 10 miles from the Benedictine Monastary, now Norwich Anglian Cathedral, in Norwich. This can be answered fairly easily. Firstly Wymondham was both an Abbey plus a parish church and secondly it started life as a priory.

Wymondham Abbey as a priory

Wymondham Abbey started its spiritual journey as a priory, a dependant upon the Benedictine Abbey of St Albans. The Abbot at St Albans, Richard d'Aubigny, was uncle to William D'Aubigny the founder of the priory at Wymondham. It was founded in 1107 and originally dedicated to St Mary the Virgin and St. Alban the Martyr. It was not until 1448 that Wymondham priory became an Abbey as the complex grew and became more important.

When first built the priory was built on a large and very grand scale with the nave being 12 bays long. It is commented that the original nave was a scaled down version of the nave at Norwich Cathedral. Like Norwich Cathedral, the Abbey at Wymondham was faced with Limestone from Caen, Normandy, France. The stone was shipped from Caen to Wymondham.

The Abbey remained in use until the dissolutions of the monasteries in 1538 at which point it was closed and parts of it demolished and the stone sold for re-use elsewhere leaving the present day church building.

Wymondham Abbey as a parish church - Then and Now

There is evidence to show us that when originally built the abbey was cruciform in shape with a central tower and twin towers at the west end.The central tower however was rebuilt in 1376 and was replaced by the now ruined octagonal tower. This tower held the monk's bells.

In 1447 the twin west towers were replaced by a taller single tower which would contain the bells of the townspeople. As mentioned at the start of this entry the abbey began life as not only a priory but also a parish church which means the building was divided and shared between the monks and the townspeople. The north aisle and the nave as they still do today served the townspeople as the parish church, however during its time as a priory and abbey it caused many dissputes between both parties.

For more information about Wymondham Abbey head over to www.wymondhamabbey.org.uk/

I enjoyed my first visit to Wymondham abbey. As I strolled around the buildings and the grounds I felt at ease and very peaceful there. It has a great feeling of religion there similar to the feeling you get when you enter Norwich Cathedral or the Shrine at Walsingham in Norfolk. The building is highly impressive especially the alter screen and the stone carvings throughout the building. I would recommend a visit and will not doubt take myslelf there again for another visit or some peaceful contemplation.