Category Archives: Abbey Buildings

Abbey Buildings Enhancement Project – planning application

Leave a reply


A planning application P24/V1831/FUL has been submitted for the Abbey Buildings enhancement project .

A proposed extension in front of the Unicorn Theatre will serve as a lobby, with accessible toilets for visitors and an accessible changing room for performers. The planning application also covers adding windows to the Long Gallery.

Also in the project but not requiring planning permission is a four-way platform lift between the Lower and Long Gallery, with access from the Undercroft (which could serve as a cafe).

The theatre’s floor will be aligned with the stage, level with the entrance. Retractable seating would be added.

All aspects of the design have been shared with Historic England who are reported to be enthusiastic about the changes so far but will require attention to detail.

The changes are particularly important for older audience members and those with disabilities, as they address access and accessible toilets.

Proposed leaded windows in the Long Gallery will follow 16th-century glazing practices, and could be removed without damage in future (openings are currently open to the elements and covered with blinds). Windows will help make the building easier to warm and use during the colder months.

Abingdon Craft Market and Abingdon Beer Festival

3 Replies


The Town Crier announced the Local Excellence Craft Market on the Market Place.

One local craft, beer brewing, has been happening in Abingdon for hundreds of years. The LoveBeer Brewery brew beer four miles from Abingdon in the village of Milton. They said they’d also be at the Beer Festival.

At the Abbey Buildings, the Town Crier called, ‘Welcome to Abingdon’s Traditional Beer Festival in the Abbey Buildings. Upon this hallowed ground the monks have brewed beer for a thousand years. Tonight, you will have ale, you will have food, you will have fun and you will have live music. Tonight at 7 pm you will be regaled with music by local legends, The Mercenaries …’

There were 32 beers and four ciders to choose from. For a £10 ticket people could choose 4 half pints or 2 pints.

They included eight beers from Abingdon’s own Loose Cannon brewery, and two beers from Lovebeer (Wookie 3.9 and Bonnie Hops 4.6 on the list above). A couple of beers had sold out on Friday night and were crossed out. Others sold out on Saturday. The festival continues on Sunday.

There was food from Fat Tabby and a cake stall. The cake stall does well as some people like to take cakes home to their loved ones after their night drinking beer.

The Mercenaries played their set. People were still entering in good numbers when I left to write this post.

The festival helps raise money for the Friends of the Abbey Buildings who maintain, and are looking to improve the Abbey Buildings with a lottery grant that will need matched funding.

The Abbey Gateway in February 2023

6 Replies

The  Abbey Gateway was built in the fifteenth century at the entrance to Abingdon Abbey.

In this view, the afternoon sun is shaded by bollards, an information sign, and people passing by.

They are watched over by the gargoyles, furry with algae and moss,

and grotesques with gouged-out eyes.

A gargoyle spouts water and gargles. A grotesque is grotesque.

The other side of the archway has a medieval vaulted ceiling where grey stone looks golden in places.

National Lottery Heritage Fund gives support to Abbey Buildings project

1 Reply


The Abingdon Abbey Buildings Trust has been awarded £256,000 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. This is the first stage of support for their project to preserve and enhance Abingdon’s oldest building. Detailed planning work on the project will start early in 2023 and take two years.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund can then consider the plans at the second stage, where £2,500,000 could be awarded towards the full project.

Commenting on the award, Bryan Brown, Chairman of the Trust, said: “We are delighted to have received this support thanks to National Lottery players. The buildings, including the Unicorn Theatre, are a vital community asset, and it is great to know that we are a step closer to making them accessible for all, for generations to come.”

The Abbey Buildings are the last intact buildings of the Abbey of Abingdon, dissolved by Henry VIII.

The Abingdon Abbey Buildings Trust (previously called the Friends of Abingdon) saved the Abbey Buildings in 1944 and developed them into an important community asset containing the Unicorn theatre.

The Abbey Buildings are used by a wide range of community groups and host heritage events. To find out more about the Abingdon Abbey Buildings see https://abingdonabbeybuildings.co.uk/.

Since The National Lottery began in 1994, National Lottery players have raised over £43 billion for projects, and more than 635,000 grants have been awarded across the UK.