Reading Abbey

Reading Abbey: ¤º°`° Ruminations On A Romantic Ruin ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º (1261 words)
by malibu_jenny - written on 18.01.08 (Very useful, 133 readings)
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It was January, lunch time and a bright cold day. The frost still clung to the grass in long shadows, but the wind had dropped and the sunshine felt warm through the shoulders of my work coat. I pushed through the crowds by the corner of the churchyard and crossed into the Forbury Gardens. In contrast to the rest of town, this remaining oasis of green was once circled by the walls of the Abbey and since it's purchase by the council in 1835 has been used as a public park. Having been a refuge for junkies and predatory men in recent years, the gardens have undergone a facelift, leaving them free of hedges and corners and fishponds, covered by the ...

A short walk down memory lane (1552 words)
by 1maryanne - written on 02.04.01 (Very useful, 147 readings)
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You have probably read some of libertybell’s opinions on Reading. If you haven’t then you should because they are well worth the crowns that have been bestowed upon them. But once again I drift from the point of my opinion……………….. Just behind the old Town hall, at the easterly end of Friar Street, lies St. Laurence’s Church. This church began life as a chapel beside the main abbey gate, to provide a small place for private prayer before crossing the courtyard and entering the Great Abbey Church. Before the end of the 12th century the chapel had to be enlarged and St Laurence’s became a church. This was ...