Abingdon Abbey ( "St Mary's Abbey ") was a Benedictine monastery located in the centre of Abingdon-on-Thames beside the River Thames. The abbey was founded c.675 AD in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Domesday Book of 1086 informs us that the abbey was a wealthy and powerful landowner : There is nothing to see today of the abbey church. The existing buildings include : Checker Hall ( Unicorn Theatre ). The Checker. The Long Gallery. The Lower Hall. Thames Street, the Mill and the Mill stream. Extant buildings There is nothing to see today of the abbey church. Apparent ruins in the Abbey Gardens are Trendell's Folly, built in the nineteenth century. Some of the stones may come from St Helen's Church. Associated monastic buildings do, however, survive, including the Abbey Exchequer, the timber-framed Long Gallery, the Abbey bakehouse, (all in the care of the Friends of Abingdon Civic Society) the Abbey gateway, St John's hospitium (pilgrims' hostel) and the Church of St Nicolas. One of the original fireplaces was removed and is now still intact in Lacies Court, Abingdon School. The Unicorn Theatre is now located in part of the Abbey. History Early history The abbey was supposedly founded in 675 either by Cissa, viceroy of Centwine, king of the West Saxons, or by his nephew Hean, in honour of the Virgin Mary, for twelve Benedictine monks. Cissa was buried here, as well. Endowed by successive West Saxon kings, it grew in importance and wealth until its destruction by the Danes in the reign of King Alfred, and the sequestration of its estates by Alfred because the monks had not made him a sufficient requital for vanquishing their enemies. By the 950s the abbey was in a decayed state, but in about 954 King Eadred appointed Æthelwold, later Bishop of Winchester, abbot. He was one of the leaders of the English Benedictine Reform, and Abingdon then became the second centre of the Reform (after Glastonbury). There is a collection of 136 charters granted to this abbey by various Saxon kings. The Chronicle of the Monastery of Abingdon was written at the Abbey in the 12th century. Sutton Courtenay In Sutton Courtenay, Abingdon Abbey constructed The Abbey as a monastic grange, used as an administrative centre for the abbey's land and tithe holdings. However, the owner of the hide of land, Alwin the priest ( whose father owned