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Athelney Abbey is a ruined Anglo-Saxon monastery founded in 887 or 888 by King Alfred the Great on the island of Athelney in the Somerset Levels. The abbey was established as an act of thanksgiving for Alfred's victory over the Vikings and his subsequent consolidation of the kingdom of Wessex, and it became an important religious foundation under royal patronage. The site, which remained occupied and developed through the medieval period, contains archaeological evidence of Anglo-Saxon settlement alongside later monastic structures. The remains visible today include fragmentary stonework and earthworks that testify to the abbey's original construction and subsequent medieval occupation until its dissolution in the sixteenth century.
Anglo-Saxon occupation site and site of Athelney Abbey on Athelney Hill is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1019099. View the official record →
Athelney Abbey is a ruined Anglo-Saxon monastery founded in 887 or 888 by King Alfred the Great on the island of Athelney in the Somerset Levels. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1019099.
Anglo-Saxon occupation site and site of Athelney Abbey on Athelney Hill is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic England (NHLE) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in England. The official designation reference is 1019099.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Balt Moor Wall (0.5 km), Anglo-Saxon burh at East Lyng (1.1 km), Burrow Mump: a motte castle, later chapel and associated earthworks (2 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Anglo-Saxon occupation site and site of Athelney Abbey on Athelney Hill's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Anglo-Saxon occupation site and site of Athelney Abbey on Athelney Hill stands on Triassic Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Triassic. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.