page_title: Waverley Abbey
section_title: The ruins
hierarchical_section_title: Waverley Abbey / Architectural description and remains / The ruins
caption_attribution_description: English: Harry Sutton Palmer - Wikipedia:Waverley Abbey near Farnham (1906)
context_page_description: Waverley Abbey was the first Cistercian abbey in England. It was founded in 1128 by William Giffard, the Bishop of Winchester. Located about 2 miles southeast of Farnham, Surrey, it is situated on a flood-plain; surrounded by current and previous channels of the River Wey. It was damaged on more than one occasion by severe flooding, resulting in rebuilding in the 13th century. Despite being the first Cistercian abbey in England, and being motherhouse to several other abbeys, Waverley was "slenderly endowed" and its monks are recorded as having endured poverty and famine.
  The abbey was suppressed in 1536 as part of King Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries. Subsequently, largely demolished, its stone was reused in local buildings, likely including "Waverley Abbey House", which was built in 1723 in the northern portion of the former abbey precinct.
  Waverley Abbey House, the ruins of the abbey and the surrounding land are all part of a conservation area. The house is a Grade II* Listed building and the ruins a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
  The ruins of the abbey are currently managed by English Heritage and open to the public.
context_section_description: Only part of the abbey remains standing, with the ruins dating from the abbey's 13th-century reconstruction. The most substantial remains are that of the vaulted undercroft, or cellar, of the lay brother's refectory, and the walls of the monk's dormitory, which largely survive to roof height. There also survives the remains of the chapter house and traces of the north and south transepts of the abbey church.
  Earthworks in the eastern portion of the abbey's precinct reveal the remains of several fishponds and a "water supply system".
  The site was excavated by the Surrey Archaeological Society between 1890 and 1903, and the ruins restored in 1966 when the site was under the care of the Ministry of Works.
  The ruins, Waverley Abbey House, and the surrounding land were all designated a conservation area in 1989. Waverley Abbey House is protected as a Grade II* Listed Building, while the abbey ruins are also a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
caption: Painting of the ruins of Waverley Abbey by Harry Sutton Palmer, 1906.
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