Chertsey Abbey hotels in Runnymede, United Kingdom

Surrey is a county unusually rich (even by English standards) in historic ruins in the form of medieval abbeys and castles. Chertsey Abbey, in the town of the same name, is one of these and also one of the more romantic of them. These ruins date from before the infamous Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII, who was not one for nostalgia! And although much was demolished enough still survives to make the abbey an interesting destination for a day trip. Book in to a local Surrey hotel such as the Manor House Hotel & Spa in Guildford or Warren Lodge Hotel in Shepperton to see these splendid ruins for yourself.

Surrey Hotels for the Ruins of Chertsey Abbey

Chertsey Abbey was founded in 666AD by its first abbot, before he went on to become Bishop of London. This was, of course, long before the Normans gate-crashed England, and the Abbey contains the remains of several saints from the Dark Ages, including Saint Beocca, a martyr to the Danes in one of their earlier raids on this part on the struggling realm. The abbey became most famous in the later Middle Ages when Henry VI, one of a series of kings to occupy the English throne during the Wars of the Roses, was temporarily buried here before being reinterred in Windsor Castle. In 1537, when Henry VIII dissolved the abbey, its community transferred to Bisham.

Chertsey Abbey Ruins from Surrey Hotels

Chertsey Abbey is a good destination for an outing from your Surrey hotel base if the weather holds out, which it usually does in this part of the United Kingdom to the delight and surprise of many visitors. One of the abbey's original bells, cast in 1380 at a Wokingham foundry and weighing in at half a ton, is still ringing as one of eight at St. Peter's Church in the modern town of Chertsey. To the more fanciful, its chimes sound like a ghostly lament for its lost home of centuries ago. In passing, Chertsey Abbey makes a brief appearance in Richard III, Act I, Scene 2. Enjoy!