This is a virtual taking you around the lovely Leiston Abbey!
Leiston Abbey is one of Suffolk’s most impressive monastic ruins and has some spectacular architectural features. It was founded in 1182 by Ranulf de Glanville, Henry II’s Chief Justiciar, and was dedicated to St Mary.
In about 1363 the abbey was moved away from what was evidently a rather unhealthy location on swampy ground, and rebuilt on its present site. The old abbey was dismantled for building materials (though a fragment of it can still be seen) and as a result the 14th century abbey incorporates some Norman features.
Robert de Ufford, Earl of Suffolk, oversaw the rebuilding of the abbey on a much larger scale than the original and included several new chapels.
The outside walls were finished with fine chequerwork, while the windows had delicate Perpendicular-style tracery. The abbey was home to Augustinian canons who followed the Premonstratensian rule. Their domestic buildings were damaged by fire in the 1380s and rebuilt.
After the suppression the king bestowed the abbey on his brother-in-law Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. A farmhouse was built into the corner of the nave and north transept and the abbey ruins were used as farm buildings, the church itself being used as a barn.
In order to claim this virtual cache please send me a message with the answers to the following questions. (Waypoints added for ease)
Please obey all signs around the abbey grounds.
Leiston Abbey notice board - Which year did Saint Norbert found the Premonstratensian order?
Cloistered Living - Like most monesteries Leiston was planned around which shaped courtyard?
The Abbey church notice board - Henry VIII ordered the closure of Leiston Abbey in which year?
Finally post a picture of you, or your GPS somewhere within the abbey!
Enjoy the Abbey it really is a lovely spot. Please do not put the answers to the questions in your log or include photos that will give them away. Feel free to log as soon as you have sent over your answers, if i have any queries about them i'll let you know.
Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.