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.

The annual Abingdon Traditional Craft Fair was held from Friday 4th, to Sunday, the 6th of November, in and around the Abbey Buildings.

The craft stalls were arranged in seven locations. The usual route involves entering through the Unicorn Theatre, where seats had been cleared.

There were craft stalls upstairs in The Checker.

The largest, most picturesque, space is the Long Gallery, upstairs.

Downstairs the route follows the lower gallery.

The outside ground at the front and the garden at the back had craft gazebos and a large marquee with refreshments.

Finally, there is the undercroft, where there was a potter, some spinners and a weaver, and craft stalls. The craft fair has been an Abingdon fixture in November since the 1970s. Any profits help the upkeep of the Abbey Buildings.

The Abingdon Traditional Craft Fair is here for a three day run, Friday to Sunday. There are about 50 stalls, all of them arts and crafts, and it is  run by the Friends of Abingdon Abbey Buildings Trust.

All profits are used for the upkeep of the Abbey Buildings.

Some stalls were pure Abingdon – like this one with prints and paintings and tea towels.

A great setting. The event is popular with stall holders as it is pure art and craft and not the retail or tat stalls you get at other events.

For a few years up to 2016 this event was run by a commercial company, now defunct. The one thing I do miss from those days is the larger food marquee where you could try samples, and then buy sausages, cheese, pies, and alcohols. Before that company, the event was built up and run by Mrs Pauline Burren, on behalf of the Friends of Abingdon, from the 1980s.

In the grounds and undercroft were craft demonstrations including a potter and blacksmith. We also saw a sock being made inside a vintage Griswold circular sock machine – a museum piece that made socks much faster than knitting needles.