Nuneaton - Nuneaton Abbey

Nuneaton Abbey

An ancient abbey church founded at 'Eaton' in the 1150s was home to Benedictine nuns and gave the present town the name 'Nuneaton'.

Very little survives today of the original building. The cruciform church was sold after the Dissolution and converted into a mansion. Abandoned in the 17th century it was quarried away until all that survived by the 1860s were the foundations, some low walls and the battered crossing piers of the former central tower.

In 1876-77 this desolate ruin was brought back to life as a place of worship after centuries of neglect, when four of the original seven bays of the nave were rebuilt on the old foundations in Neo-Romanesque style by the Gothic Revival architect C.C. Rolfe with the old crossing piers enclosed by a temporary brick structure for use as a chancel. The west wall was also left in plain brick to allow for possible completion of the nave on the ancient footings further west at a later date, though this retains its incomplete appearance to this day.

In 1904 the chancel was rebuilt in neo-gothic style on the old foundations east of the crossing by Harold Brakspear, followed by the north transept in 1930. The architect had drawn up plans to restore the south transept and central tower too, but sadly these were never realised, leaving the south transept as a ruin sealed off by the 1877 'temporary' brick wall and leaving the church in an odd truncated state today (comprising half the nave, the chancel, north transept and base of the crossing).

Inside the ruined crossing piers remain from the original church, as well as part of a fine medieval tiled floor and the bases of what remained of the walls. Outside, the ruins of the nave and south transept remain as they were, along with the base of what is thought to have been a chapter house.

The church (such as it stands) is used as the Parish Church of St. Mary and is known locally as the Abbey Church.

Despite this building's significance in Nuneaton's past and its extraordinary recent history, it is a relatively unknown and obscure place, with little promotion or signage.