This allowed the Abbey to remain a popular and convenient, royal lodging. The abbot’s lodgings were converted into royal accommodation. Historians call this closure the Dissolution. Hundreds of abbeys were closed in England and Wales in the 1530s, as Henry declared himself as head of the church in England, and absorbed the wealth of the abbeys and priories into his own treasury. The closure of Reading Abbey was not unique. Henry took the Abbey’s valuable possessions. On the orders of King Henry VIII the Abbey was closed. In 1539, over 400 years of monastic life at Reading Abbey suddenly came to an end. The Abbey developed the town laying out new streets and properties including present-day Broad Street, Friar Street, London Street and Market Place. The Abbey owned the town of Reading and the Abbot was its lord. It was a site of international significance. Thousands of pilgrims visited to pray for a blessing or a cure. Royal funerals and weddings and meetings of court and Parliament were held at the Abbey.

Monks lived, worked and worshipped here for more than 400 years. By this time the older parts of the Abbey would have been in need of repair! One of the most important additions was the Lady Chapel in 1314, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, at the east end of the church. It was such a large and ornate construction that building continued for almost 200 years after the original foundation in 1121. The Abbey was the fourth largest church in Britain.

The opening ceremony dedicated the church to the Virgin Mary and St John the Evangelist. The ceremony was attended by King Henry II (grandson of Henry I) and his noble followers. The Abbey and the ground immediately outside became a desirable location for other royals and nobles to be buried.īuilding work was still going on when the Abbey church was officially opened by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, on 19 April 1164. King Henry I died before his Abbey was complete and was buried here in 1136 in front of the high altar.

The battle of reading gaol