United Kingdom-England 7
St Marys Abbey
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St Marys Abbey was first built in 1088.
The ruins we now see are all that remains of one of the wealthiest and most powerful Benedictine monasteries in England.
Its story ties together two of the most important events in English history: it was begun by William the Conqueror to reinforce his hold on the north after 1066 and ended by Henry the Eighth as a consequence of his Reformation of the church.
The abbey estate occupied the entire site of the Museum Gardens and the abbot was one of the most powerful clergymen of his day, on a par with the Archbishop of York. In medieval York, the abbey sat opposite and mirrored the Minster: two great buildings dedicated to worship.
