Ruins of Lesnes Abbey is a Grade II listed building in the Bexley local planning authority area, England. First listed on 20 May 1953. Abbey ruins.
Ruins of Lesnes Abbey
- WRENN ID
- scattered-parapet-dust
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Bexley
- Constituency
- Erith and Thamesmead MP: Ms Abena Oppong-Asare (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 20 May 1953
- Type
- Abbey ruins
- Address
- Ruins of Lesnes Abbey, Abbey Road
- OS grid reference
- TQ 479 787
- Coordinates
- 51.48849, 0.12924
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The ruins of Lesnes Abbey are located on Abbey Road in Abbey Wood. This site was originally the Abbey of St Mary and St Thomas the Martyr, founded by Richard de Lucy, Chief Justiciar of England, for Augustinian Canons in 1178. The abbey was suppressed by Cardinal Wolsey in 1524, and a mansion built from the abbey's materials was demolished in 1844. Excavations of the ruins were carried out by the Woolwich Antiquarian Society in 1909, and later by Sir Alfred Clapham until 1930, and by E C Elliston Erwood for the London County Council from 1939 to 1951. The ruins include the footings of walls and sections of wall reaching up to approximately 8 feet high, constructed from Kentish ragstone, flint, and chalk. They consist of the remains of the abbey church and the monastic buildings to the north. Notable features include one pointed stone doorway and several lancet windows. The site is scheduled as an Ancient monument.
Local climate
Ruins of Lesnes Abbey sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 690 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 98% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 98% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 29 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 68% of listed buildings. Of these, 12 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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