August 13th, Cleve Abbey

I spent most of the week after I returned from the Highlands walking Sheila's dogs and pottering around Burnham. But one day I did decide to visit an old abbey that was a short bus ride away. Cleve is an old Cistercian abbey with some of the buildings dating from the 13th century, others from the 15th. According to advertisements, it is supposedly has the most complete and unaltered monastic buildings from that era in all of England; a fairly impressive claim considering all of the buildings that exist in England.

I did enjoy the Abbey very much. It was a warm, sunny day. The kind of day that inspired Browning to write "Oh to be in England...." This was the England of my memories, the gentleness, the dreaminess. Where I live in the southwest US is beautiful too but it's a huge, yawning beauty rather than a cosy blanket kind. Perhaps it's because I am not as familiar with the legends of the Southwest as I am of all of the English stories--or perhaps there is something in my DNA that calls me back to England. I really don't know what it is but all I know is that wherever I go in England I feel at "home."

Anyway, back to the Abbey:

This is the entryway to the Abbey grounds. In the 13th century, this would have been where the poor would come for alms.

The interior courtyard where the monks would have walked and a view of the cloisters.

I look at these old walls and think about the masons centuries ago who created these walls. Did they think of the past and the future as we do? Did they wonder how long their work would last? Did they take as much pride in their work as we are in awe of what they did?

The monks' dormitory.

Even monks like a bit of decoration; these tiles and others like them were found near where the monks would have had their beds. Not beside every bed though so either only certain monks could have decorations or perhaps other monks chose decorations that were less permanent?

The day room where they would copy out manuscripts.

The refectory.

Staircase leading to the refectory.

The refectory ceiling, another amazing piece of craftsmanship.

Looking out on the peaceful countryside.

The back of the Abbey.

In a tent outside of the Abbey, there was a display of more of the 13th century tiles that had been uncovered last century. Archaeologists are trying to prevent them from degrading; they've discovered that uncovering them has actually harmed the tiles and they are trying to figure out the best temperature and environment to keep them at so as to stop them from crumbling away.

After leaving the Abbey, I walked along the road beside this river to a farm where I had cake and a drink before heading back to Sheila's house.