Reading Abbey

I finally managed to visit the ruins of Reading Abbey in December 2018, now it is not the first time I have been here, I used to go to school next door and visited on many occasions but after I left it was only once or twice after that. Reading Abbey was founded by Henry I in 1121, when he died in 1135 he was brought back to the Abbey and buried in front of the High Altar

 So this is a model of the Abbey Quarter

 The Abbey I think the area to the top of the picture is where Forbruy road is today

This is what the abbey looked like in height. All that is left of it now is the Abbey gateway just towards the bottom of the photo below the abbey and the area to the right of the South transept

 Above the memorial to Henry Ist and you would have been looking down the nave here.



Right the restored Abbey Gateway

The information board at the entrance to the ruins

The entrance to the Abbey Ruins which for years was shut

 A restored gateway, this takes you along what was the dormitories I'm stood on part of the Cloisters

Another of the information boards and  above the Founders Chapel this would have been the chapel you see to the right of the South transept in the models at the start

A plaque telling you Henry Ist was buried nearby, most Kiley under the school on the other side of the wall

 

Above the Founders Chapel and what the wall would have looked like, the south aisle is to the left

Another of the info boards

This is the base of one of the Huge support pillars that supported the  church and stood around six meters high (nearly 20 foot)

These board are all around the ruins, they never were when  I was a kid

The end wall of the Treasury

Looking across to the chapter house

Above St James school as I knew it when I used to go there. The school is built around the centre of the cross towards the chancel so the High Altar is around there

 The Chapter house

 The song is Summer is a cumming in


The plaque shows the founding of the Abbey

A memorial to Hugh Cook Faringdon the last Abbot of the Abbey who was put todeath in a most barbaric fashion in front of the Abbey. From what I read he died of hear failure before they could do any thing which is more than could be said for the two others who were killed with him

The end of the Chapter house

This was the monks dormitory 

Looking back up to the chapter house. This part was dug out in the English civil war and during the second world war an air raid shelter was built for the children of St James school. I think it is still there

The dormitory walls, the holes you see in them were where the scaffolding was placed when the built the building

 This takes you along the side of the dormitory towards the chapter house

The chapter house 

Going back to the Abbey

As you walk along here you can see these exhibits 

The show parts of the doorway and the carvings on them

They were found in the grounds

And a picture shows where they went

  Back along the walk

On the way back out you pass more parts of the Abbey

Above a last look of the ruins and left a view down Abbots Walk towards St James school now a children's nursery 

Part of the Abbey remains
near St James Church

 Looking across the Forbury gardens towards the Abbey, St James church is to the left and the school on the right, the Abbey ruins are over to the right between the school and the houses on the right. Reading Prison is in the background.

That's my little walk around the Abbey ruins, if you find yourself in Reading then the ruins are worth the time to look around to see what little remains of them. Next week I will be taking you to Wessex and back to King Alfred's kingdom and the Churches around that area.

St James RC Church Reading

You could say this is a trip down memory lane, a pilgrimage to my past. This is a Church I know from my schooldays when I went to the primary school next door, each week we would walk in file from the school to the church for mass. Even though I had been on Sunday I went again in the week as well even if we felt we did not need to go we had to. Since moving on from that school and then on into life I always remembered the school and church when I went. I had visited the church to get some photos and every time I passed I found it locked apart from one occasion when the cleaning lady let me in for a few moments to say a prayer within. The other day I went to Reading on the bus like I did when I went to school back then and after failing to look in a nearby church I went down to the Abbey Ruins then on to St James to be greeted by an open door. I took the time to go in and get some photos of this wonderful old church I remember.

I can tell you the church was started in 1837 and opened in 1840 and has been in regular use since. If you would like to read more on it's history then go it it's own Wikpedia page

There is also a more in depth history on St James Website

St James from the Forbury Gardens. This photo was take many years ago but the outside has changed little , the photo is also used on Wikipedia

St James from near the entrance to the walk past it

When I went to school next door this used to be part of the churchyard with graves in it, the rod you see here was built and too out most of the churchyard, the graves were relocated elsewhere but behind the church you can see most of the headstones

This is the side entrance to the church and way to the rectory, the large lump of stone work you see is part of the original Reading Abbey

Go around to the old prison carpark and you get a view of the apse and the extension which was added to the church

The porch leading into the church has not changed since I used to go through it as a child

Inside you look down a bright and well lit aisle, one thing I noticed was the chairs had been changed, I remember them being very dark, uncomfortable and the kneelers hard

The Altar has moved has forward from when I used to go here, it used to be nearer the arches at the rear 

The Altar covered with purple covering

The central stained Glass window in the apse

The left and right side windows in the apse

Looking back to the choir loft and organ

Above and left the Lady chapel it has some beautiful stained glass in it

at the back you can see more stained glass showing the tree of life

A nearby plaque explaining the dedication of the window

Also in the aisle is a Roll of Honour to those who ost their lives during the second world war and attended St James

The stations of the cross in the Lady Chapel

Looking through the arches you see more stained glass along the nave depicting saints

One side of the lady chapel is a shrine to St James, before I went I siad a prayer and lit a candle

The north aisle dedicated to the Sacred heart

In one corner a shrine to St Xavier

Along the south side are more stained glass windows dedicated to saints & martyrs

This one to Blessed Hugh Faringdon, the last Abbot of the abbey in which ground the church now stands and was martyred in front of the Abbey gates. I went to the school named after him

The two unfortunate monks who were killed along with him

The coat of arms of Hugh Faringdon and which is also the schools emblem. A memorial to the Blount Family who are buried in the church

Thomas Becket

the last one is to St James

A statue of the sacred heart stands next to the font

Which I read somewhere is made using parts of Reading Abbey

Close up of the mural behind the font

From the North aisle you look up at more stained glass windows

A modern take on the Crucifix certainly not what I remember in the church

Sad reminder of our violent past, the grave of Rev François Longuet who was murdered along the Oxford road on his way home from teaching in Wallingford

at the back you can see more statues of saints

either side of the stations of the cross

A crucifix hangs over the Church Tabernacle, this used to be on the altar that was nearer the arch you see when I attended mass here

Back outside you can see St James church on the left, the school I went to on the right and a little further to the right is part of the Abbey ruins.. Hard to believe that that 500 years ago the whole area was dominated by a huge Abbey

St James Church a few days ago

With that I will leave you all for this year and Wish you a Merry Christmas and happy & peaceful new year