Shrewsbury Abbey
The Abbey Office, Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury. SY2 6BS
Tel. 01743 232723
email: Parish Office

A Brief History of Shrewsbury Abbey

GOD has been worshipped in this place for over one thousand years, initially in a small Saxon church and subsequently in this great Benedictine Abbey Church of SS Peter and Paul which was founded by Roger de Montgomery, a relative of William the Conqueror in 1083.

During the following 450 or so years it grew to become one of the most important and influential abbeys in the land; the relics of the Welsh Saint Winefride were brought to the Abbey in 1147, and the building became an important centre of pilgrimage.

In 1283 the first English Parliament in which the Commons had a legal share took place in the Abbey Chapter House, and in 1398 Richard II summoned the Great Parliament in the Abbey.
The Abbey was finally surrendered to the Crown in January 1540 and although much was destroyed, the nave has since served as the Church for the Parish of the Holy Cross.

In the nineteenth century a huge programme of restoration took place, but in the event financial constraints compelled the building of only part of the plan and everything to the east of the pulpit and lectern are the work of J L Pearson, dating from 1886. Any thoughts of the Pearson plans being completed were lost in the tensions of the Great War (1914-1918) - vividly portrayed in the poetry of Wilfred Owen whose home was in the Abbey parish and whose name is on the war memorial in the church.

For a more detailed history: visit: http://www.history.uk.com

Visit the Herb Garden

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