page_title: Buildwas Abbey
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Buildwas Abbey / The ruins / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: Plan of the remains of the Cistercian Abbey at Buildwas, Shropshire, England. The plan appeared in a book by a distinguished architectural historian and is stil useful as a rough guide to the abbey site.
context_page_description: Buildwas Abbey was a Cistercian monastery located on the banks of the River Severn, at Buildwas, Shropshire, England - today about two miles west of Ironbridge. Founded by the local bishop in 1135, it was sparsely endowed at the outset but enjoyed several periods of growth and increasing wealth: notably under Abbot Ranulf in the second half of the 12th century and again from the mid-13th century, when large numbers of acquisitions were made from the local landed gentry. Abbots were regularly used as agents by Plantagenet in their attempts to subdue Ireland and Wales and the abbey acquired a daughter house in each country. It was a centre of learning, with a substantial library, and was noted for its discipline until the economic and demographic crises of the 14th century brought about decline and difficulties, exacerbated by conflict and political instability in the Welsh Marches. The abbey was suppressed in 1536 as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII. Substantial remains of the abbey church and monk's quarters remain and are in the care of English Heritage.
context_section_description: The abbey site is ashort distance south of the River Severn. The drainage opportunities afforded by the river made it sensible to place the claustral buildings to the north of the church, which is roughly parallel to the river, and so fairly accurately oriented. The remains of the buildings are entirely of local sandstone: all wooden parts disappeared long ago. The remains of buildings around the infirmary court and the abbot's lodging, all on the north and east sides of the site, are not open to the public, as they are within a private residence. The remains that are open to the public, free of charge at present, are described below.
caption: Plan of Buildwas Abbey, from Walcott's The Four Minsters Round the Wrekin, 1877.
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