At the November meeting of the Henley Archaeological and Historical Group on 5 November Dr Ron Baxter, an authority on Romanesque sculpture, gave a presentation on the Rediscovery of Reading Abbey.

The Abbey was founded by King Henry I in 1121 on major routes to the North and West and became highly important as a royal burial place and pilgrimage site. When it was dissolved by Henry VIII, the valuable stone, often finely decorated, which faced the walls of the buildings was removed and used to build other structures. The fate of much of this stone is unknown and the layout of the buildings it came from is difficult to establish.

Some drawings exist in historical documents, dating from well after the dissolution, and provide a valuable indication of the original appearance of the Abbey buildings. There is evidence that part of the stone was used in the building of St Mary’s church in Reading and the vault ribs for covering part of the Holy Brook. Queen Mary ordered that stone from the Lady Chapel be used for the Poor Knights’ Lodging at Windsor. The remainder was sold to individuals.

Some of the carved stones were used in features in the grounds of Shiplake House and Holme Park, Sonning. Further stones from the Abbey cloister came to light during gardening work in the 1930s at Borough Marsh near Shiplake. In 1948, an organised excavation (pictured) by the Courtauld Institute took place there with the unearthing of additional carved stones, which are now in Reading Museum.

An excavation in the exercise yard of Reading Gaol in the 1970s revealed the outline of the chapels around the east end and High Altar. The particularly rich foliage decoration of stone carving in Reading Abbey, symbolising the snares of earthly life, may have been intended as a warning to the monastic community who lived among them. Are there further pieces in the area waiting to be discovered?