Hailes Abbey, located in Gloucestershire, was one of the famous abbeys in the Middle Ages. It has connections to the royal family through its founding from Richard, brother of Henry III, who founded the abbey in 1246. The king and his family were buried at the church in the high altar area. It was once a famous abbey with pilgrimage site. Today, there is little left of the abbey and its buildings as the stonework was used on other buildings after the dissolution. It is managed by English Heritage and owned by National Trust.
The abbey's first monks came from Beaulieu in Hampshire and then helped to set up the running of Hailes Abbey.
The main part of the abbey that is still standing are the walls of the cloisters. The remaining walls of buildings around the cloisters are low-level on the ground.
The abbey was a famous pilgrimage site as it held a vile of blood relic that was believed to be the blood of Christ. It was brought in 1270 to the abbey, named "Blood of Hailes", and the abbey became rich off of money from those who came to seek it for miracles and other reasons. The location of the vile of blood was at the altar, which would have been where I am standing in the below photograph. The mound of earth shows where the altar and burials of the king and his family would have been.
The Black Death was one of the contributors to the abbey's financial downfall, and it also struggled with good leadership. It was revived in the 15th century due to direction from abbots who helped to manage it and gain funding from important families.
There are a couple of museums on site, and one is in the main building with important finds at the abbey. The other is just outside and features information panels with some stonework.
One of the items in the museum is a part of a monk's glasses that date from the 14th century. Glasses were invented in the 13th century in Italy, and this is one of the oldest pairs to exist.
Other items in the museum are the carved bosses that used to be on the connecting vaulted ceilings. Some of them mark crests of important families, and one of them is a carved sculpture of Samson fighting a lion.
Another item in the museum was a seal for the relic of blood, pictured below.
Figures that used to adorn religious books and other items were also discovered.
Outside the abbey is Hailes Church.
I visited Hailes Abbey in the middle of June and spent an hour and a half wandering around the ruins, listening to the audio guide, and visiting the musuem.
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