=Accommodation Obtainable.=—"Abbey Inn."
The village of Buildwas is situated at the foot of the Wrekin, on the banks of the Severn, half a mile distant from the ruined abbey lying on the south bank of the river. It was one of the oldest Cistercian monasteries in England, and was founded by Roger de Clinton the Crusader Bishop of Chester in 1135, for monks of the Cistercian order. The building, erected on the site of a hermitage, to which an early bishop of Lincoln had retired in the time of King Offa, was destined to become one of the richest establishments in the kingdom. It was partly destroyed in 1536 and the site granted to Edward Grey, Lord Powis, who married Anne, daughter of Charles Brandon, Duke of Sussex.
But though the monastery itself was destroyed, the outer walls of the noble church remain, together with a great portion of the massive central tower, the choir chapels, and the east end, with its delicate lancet-windows. The clerestory, with its Norman windows, is also intact on both sides of the nave, and between the columns are remains of the screen which once shut off the eastern aisle. The door on the south side leading to the dormitories of the monks may still be traced.
The ruins of the chapter-house are remarkably fine, and in good preservation, with a beautiful early Gothic groined roof. Beyond the chapter-house are the refectory and kitchen, and on the side next to the river were the cloisters. In the outer court of the abbey stood the lodge, and there was formerly a fine gatehouse, which collapsed in 1828, and is now almost entirely gone.
The brook, that once flowed across the abbey court, still works the mill close by; but the fine old bridge over the Severn, built by the monks, was taken down in 1690.
A good way of seeing Buildwas is to go there from Shrewsbury by an early train, walking to Leighton and Eaton Constantine, both charming villages, and rejoining the train at Cressage for Shrewsbury. An alternative route is from Shrewsbury to Much Wenlock, where there are the ruins of a fine Abbey.
[Illustration: Photochrom Co., Ltd.
BUILDWAS ABBEY.
The ruins of the Church. This was one of the oldest Cistercian monasteries in England.]