Quarr Abbey

England
List entry 1012714
Nation
England
The designation
Reference
List entry 1012714
Authority
Historic England (NHLE)
Status
Scheduled Monument
Scheduled area
10.9 hectares
Grid reference
SZ 56583 92606
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic England (NHLE)

Overview

History & significance

Quarr Abbey is a Cistercian monastery founded in the twelfth century on the Isle of Wight, Hampshire. The abbey was established around 1132 and operated as a daughter house of Savigny Abbey until the Cistercian order absorbed Savigny in 1147. The site represents an important example of early Cistercian settlement in southern England, though substantial remains from the medieval period survive only as earthworks and fragmentary stone foundations. The abbey was dissolved during the Reformation in the sixteenth century, and its ruins were subsequently quarried for building stone, accounting for the diminished state of the surviving structures today.

Quarr Abbey is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1012714. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Quarr Abbey?

Quarr Abbey is a Cistercian monastery founded in the twelfth century on the Isle of Wight, Hampshire. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1012714.

Who is responsible for protecting Quarr Abbey?

Quarr Abbey 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 1012714.

What other scheduled monuments are near Quarr Abbey?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including A group of 11 round barrows forming part of a Bronze Age cemetery, and part of a field system east of Eaglehead Copse (5.3 km), Bowl barrow 370m east of Eaglehead Copse, forming part of a Bronze Age barrow cemetery (5.3 km), Bowl barrow on Arreton Down (5.9 km).

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Everything a full report reveals about Quarr Abbey

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Quarr Abbey's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
LiDAR
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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The ground beneath

The bedrock under Quarr Abbey

Quarr Abbey stands on Solent Group, bedrock that formed in the Paleogene. The rock here is clay, silt and sand.