The West Front of the Abbey Church

Abstract

Although the ruins of the abbey’s western structure are imposing, and even partially intelligible from the exterior, the nature of the interior spaces of the ensemble are difficult to grasp due to the houses which have been built into it. Rebuilding following the two documented catastrophes of the 15th century has further confused the picture of the original components of the west complex, while the collapse of much of the structure renders the extent of the later modifications and their form ambiguous. Nonetheless, it is possible to identify the original ensemble as having consisted of a western transept surmounted by an axial tower and flanked by double-storeyed chapel blocks and octagonal structures. The reasons for this unusual assemblage of forms are not yet clear. The transept may have been the result of the desire for a monumental axial western tower in order to reaffirm the Anglo-Saxon heritage of the abbey, but neither medieval sources nor modern literature suggest a function for the octagonal structures, the most unusual aspect of the west complex. With a profusion of chapels elsewhere in the building, the appearance of four more in the western structure is also difficult to justify, especially as they are without satisfyingly close formal parallels. The recent unpicking of some of the domestic structures inserted into the ruins has revealed that alteration to the fabric after either the collapse of the west tower in 1430 or the fire of 1465 was more extensive than previously suspected.