Today, it is only me, sheep and cows at Haughmond Abbey. However, in Medieval times this was a flourishing house of Augustian monks. It started life as a small religious community in the thick forests between the Upper Severn and the Roden rivers.
![Haughmond Abbey](http://www.guide-for-london.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/IMG_6790-300x225.jpg)
From the early 12th century it was under the patronage of wealthy local families, including a Norman nobleman William Fitzalan, who later became Earl of Arundel. The abbey enjoyed the good life of a medieval monastery until Henry VIII’s dissolution in 1539.
The monastic buildings were arranged around a cloister (a covered walk). The elaborately carved arches are all that remains of it.
![Remains of a cloister arch](http://www.guide-for-london.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/IMG_6812-225x300.jpg)
Built around 1180, the refectory (dining hall) was on two levels, with the upper one used for eating in, and the lower one for storage.
![The wall of refectory](http://www.guide-for-london.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/IMG_6826-300x225.jpg)
![](http://www.guide-for-london.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/IMG_6825-262x300.jpg)
The chapter house was where the monks met in the morning and listened to a reading of a chapter from the rule book of the monastery. The font comes from the destroyed church.
In the 14th century the Abbot moved into new comfortable lodgings, which included a big hall to entertain himself and important guests in.
![Remains of Abbot's lodgings](http://www.guide-for-london.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/IMG_6795-225x300.jpg)
The church is likely to be destroyed at the time, but the rest of the complex passed into the ownership of the Barker family, who turned it into a mansion.
![Bay windows remaining from the mansion](http://www.guide-for-london.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/IMG_6839-300x225.jpg)
This was destroyed during the Civil Was in the 17th century. The remains were a farm, later becoming a park of a picturesque landscaped park. It is now looked after by English Heritage, – free to visit (free car park, but no toilets!)
Sources –
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/haughmond-abbey/
https://www.shropshiretourism.co.uk/abbeys-priories-and-churches/haughmond-abbey.html
![Haughmond Abbey](https://www.guide-for-london.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/IMG_6838-300x225.jpg)