Paid for by Bishop Everard of Norwich, for whom Fontenay was a refuge from the hostility of Henry II of England, the abbey church has a sober, unadorned beauty ' no bell?­tower, as there were no distant faithful to be called to worship, but harmonious proportions in the interior, and fine acoustics because Saint Bernard was a great lover of music.
Fontenay once served as a refuge for Bishop Everard of Norwich.