Reading Abbey

The Abbot: Faded Glory

The financial records, legal documents showing ownership of property, moneys and precious possessions of the Abbey were kept in the Treasury, an upper storey room between the south transept and the Chapter House, with its walls decorated in red designs painted on wall plaster.

The exact position of the Abbot's House is now uncertain, although it remained as a royal residence after the Abbey was dissolved, the last monarch to stay there being Charles I in 1625. It had been pulled down by the end of the Civil War. The Stables continued in use and horses were kept there during the Civil War, but later were filled in and built over, the new library now rising above their foundations. By the Chapter House an arch from the base of the Treasury still spans across to the south transept. Bere Court still exists but has been mainly rebuilt over the years. The memory of the power and prestige of the Abbots of Reading lives on best in the references to them in historical documents; the names of all of them are known and much of their life histories. Their involvement is recorded in royal matters and the happenings in the history of the church. They commanded the respect of all, from the simplest choir boy to the king. Hugh, Anscher, Edward, Reginald, Roger … twenty-seven holy and able men held office as Abbot of Reading.

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