Our Blog - August 2025 - England trip - Bayham Old Abbey

Bayham Abbey was founded in the early 13th century and was renowned for the quality and richness of its architecture. The buildings were built with local sandstone and then the church was enlarged in the 15th century with new transepts. They abbey functioned until it was dissolved in the 16th century and then it fell into ruins. Today, there are partial walls and some room foundations, along with a gatehouse.

While I don't normally put pictures of the informational panels on the blog, but this one has a great drawing of the entire area from above, which gives a better perspective than ground level (in my opinion).

The tallest parts are from the abbey church, especially the 15th century transepts (perhaps they were built using better techniques so they have lasted longer). Several niches are still visible on the various walls.

While not much of the decorative elements remains, there were a few nice columns with faces at the bases and floral designs. This "stiff-leaf" foliage sculptures are similar to contemporary work at Westminster Abbey.

The abbey also had a cloister, with covered walkways surrounding a center garden. The cloister was built in the 13th century but was in such poor condition by 1478 that the senior abbot criticized it and extensive repairs were undertaken. The grass that you see was the garden and the doorways would have been the covered walkway on one side. This is another picture of a drawing that shows what it would have looked like. You can see the tall windows and then the roof that would be over the walkway.

It eventually wound up under the control of the monarchy, and Queen Elizabeth (the first one) sold it and the land. The owners built an manor house on the estate, overlooking the ruins.