Grey Abbey

Grey Abbey is a ruined Cistercian priory in the village of Greyabbey, County Down, Northern Ireland, currently maintained by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency. It is a monument in state care in the townland of Rosemount, beside the Rosemount estate, on the eastern edge of the village of Greyabbey in the Ards Borough Council area, at grid ref: J5829 6810.
==History==
Grey Abbey was founded in 1193 Illustrated Dictionary of Irish History. Mac Annaidh, S (ed). Gill and Macmillan, Dublin. 2001 by John de Courcy's wife, Affreca, as a daughter house of Holmcultram Abbey in Cumbria. It had declined by the late Middle Ages and was dissolved in 1541. In the early 17th century it was granted to Sir Hugh Montgomery and the nave was refurbished and used for parish worship until the late 18th century. 
==Features==
The remains consist of a church with cloister and surrounding buildings to the south. Entry is through an elaborate west door, into an aisleless nave, transepts with two chapels in each and a short chancel with tall lancet windows. The buildings around the cloister include an aisled chapter house and a refectory with reader's pulpit, although the west range and cloister walks have disappeared. Three buttresses on the south wall of the nave are part of a conservation programme carried out early in the 20th century.
==References==
Category:Buildings and structures in County Down
Category:Cistercian monasteries in Northern Ireland
Category:Religion in County Down
Category:Visitor attractions in County Down
Category:1193 establishments
Category:Religious organizations established in the 1190s
Category:Archaeological sites in County Down
Category:Ruins in Northern Ireland
Category:Christian monasteries established in the 12th century
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