CLEEVE ABBEY, SOMERSET
=How to get there.=—From Paddington. Great Western Station. To
Washford Station via Taunton.
=Nearest Station.=—Washford (2 or 3 minutes' walk).
=Distance from London.=—182-1/4 miles.
=Average Time.=—Varies between 5-1/2 to 7 hours.
1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=—Single 30s. 4d. 19s. 0d. 15s. 3d.
Return 53s. 0d. 33s. 3d. 30s. 4d.
=Accommodation Obtainable.=—"Luttrell Arms Hotel," "Dunster,"
4-1/2 miles from Washford. "Métropole," "Beach," "Plume of
Feathers," etc., at Minehead, 6-1/2 miles from Washford.
At Cleeve the Cistercian abbey church has disappeared, save for the bases of the pillars in the nave, but the conventual buildings are some of the most perfect in England, those of Beaulieu in Hampshire and Fountains in Yorkshire being the only ones able to compare with them. One first passes through the magnificent old gatehouse pictured here. Inside is a large grassy space, with the mass of buildings facing one. They are arranged in a quadrangular form, enclosing a grassy cloister garth. On the south side is the refectory, a magnificent hall above some small rooms on the ground floor. It is believed to have been built by Abbot Dovell in the sixteenth century. The roof, of carved walnut, is in a perfect state of preservation. From the refectory one may pass into the Abbots' Lodge, then descending to the cloister garth again, one may penetrate all the different portions of the buildings—the day-room, where the monks did all sorts of work; the dormitory, where they slept; the chapter-house, where they conducted the business of the abbey; the sacristy, the parlour, and other smaller rooms. The buildings are so perfect that it is quite easy to obtain a comprehensive idea of the inner workings of one of these great mediaeval institutions.
The monks' day-room is a large building 60 feet long by 22 feet wide. The upper floor, forming one half of the dormitory, has disappeared, but there still remain the bases of the two central pillars which supported the groined roof. The restoration of Cleeve Abbey was carried out several years ago by Mr. G.F. Luttrell of Dunster Castle. Before that time the whole place was used as a farm, and floors of encaustic tiles were buried deep in farm-yard rubbish. There is practically no recorded history of Cleeve Abbey.
One shilling is charged for admission for one person, or sixpence each for a party of two or more.
[Illustration: THE GATE-HOUSE OF CLEEVE ABBEY.
The monastic buildings are all beyond the grassy space inside the gateway.]