According to Agnes Baker (¹), access to Abingdon Abbey was once controlled by at least four gateways, of which the surviving Abbey Gateway was the principal entrance.

Above is the Abbey Room; straight ahead stands the Old Abbey House Hotel in Abbey Close; and to the right is the Abbey Hall, home to the Abbey Cinema; and to the left down Checker Walk are the Abbey Buildings. Walk on and you reach the Abbey Gardens, and beyond that the Abbey Meadows. Even though most of the Abbey has long since vanished, the name Abbey is everywhere.

When I took this picture, on Wednesday, a broad band of late afternoon light stretched down the middle of the gateway. Since then, we have had two days of rain.

¹ Baker, Agnes. Historic Streets of Abingdon. Abingdon: The Abbey Press, 1957.