Precinct wall to Keynsham Abbey

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KEYNSHAM Rear of High Street Precinct wall to Keynsham Abbey

17-OCT-08

II Two separate lengths of abbey precinct wall survive above the ground at Keynsham.

Northernmost length extends from the junction between Station Road and The Park, extends southward for 25m and forms the eastern edge of the churchyard of Grade II* listed St John the Baptist Church. The wall is faced with dressed limestone blocks, stands up to six courses high on the east and survives as a buried feature on the west. Later walling has been added on top of the precinct wall and topped with gently rounded coping slabs.

Southernmost length of precinct wall leads from NGR ST 6544068794 for 61m to ST 6545768735. The wall is faced with dressed limestone blocks standing up to 12 courses high. Later walling has been added on top and in one area a short length of the wall has been removed and re-built.

History: Augustinian Keynsham Abbey was founded around 1170 by William Earl of Gloucester. The abbey was very successful with a wide range of land holdings and other financial interests and grew to be one of the largest in the south-west of England. In 1539 the abbey was dissolved and large parts of the buildings demolished. In 1961 much of the cloister and nave was destroyed during the construction of the Keynsham by-pass. The precinct to the abbey was denoted by a wall on the west and the river Chew on the east. This wall was probably built during the C13 or C14 and partly dismantled in the years following the Dissolution.

Sources: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=40930 accessed 3rd July 2008 http://www.keynsham.co.uk/history.html accessed 3rd July 2008

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION Keynsham Abbey precinct wall is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * As a relatively well preserved element of the Medieval abbey, other elements of which are listed and scheduled. * Provides visual evidence of the westward extent of the abbey * For its early date