Sawley Abbey Ruins

SAWLEY ABBEY RUINS

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Explore this list entry

Overview

Heritage Category:
Listed Building
Grade:
I
List Entry Number:
1072099
Date first listed:
16-Nov-1954
List Entry Name:
Sawley Abbey Ruins
Statutory Address:
SAWLEY ABBEY RUINS
User submitted image
Contributed by Paul Adams This photo may not represent the current condition of the site. Over 400,000 images and stories have been added to the Missing Pieces Project so far. Share your story.
View all

Location

Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places. 

There is a problem

Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions .

This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.

What is the National Heritage List for England?

The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.

The list includes:

Icon Buildings
Icon Scheduled monuments
Icon Parks and gardens
Icon Battlefields
Icon Shipwrecks

Find out more about listing

Images of England Project

To view this image please use Firefox, Chrome, Safari, or Edge.
Archive image, may not represent current condition of site.
Date:
2003-10-15
Reference:
IOE01/11593/01
Rights:
© Mr Keith Walker. Source: Historic England Archive

Local Heritage Hub

Unlock and explore hidden histories, aerial photography, and listed buildings and places for every county, district, city and major town across England.

Discover more

Official list entry

Heritage Category:
Listed Building
Grade:
I
List Entry Number:
1072099
Date first listed:
16-Nov-1954
List Entry Name:
Sawley Abbey Ruins
Statutory Address 1:
SAWLEY ABBEY RUINS

The scope of legal protection for listed buildings

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

The scope of legal protection for listed buildings

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

Statutory Address:
SAWLEY ABBEY RUINS

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:
Lancashire
District:
Ribble Valley (District Authority)
Parish:
Sawley
National Grid Reference:
SD7765246433

Details

SD 74 SE SAWLEY

SD 776 464

3/151
16.11.1954

Sawley Abbey Ruins

GV I

Cistercian Abbey, founded 1147, dissolved 1536. Now ruinous. Rubble with
some sandstone dressings remaining. The walls of the transepts, with
3 square east chapels on each side, and of the very small nave (possibly
shortened in the early C16th), survive to various heights, the maximum
approximately 10 metres. Only the lower courses of the chancel, widened
and lengthened in the early C16th by adding aisles, remain. Only
foundation or low walls of the conventual buildings survive. These
include the chapter house, undercroft of the dorter, the rere-dorter, and,
on the south side, the frater. On the west side of the cloister were the
dorter and frater of the lay bretheren, later converted in part into
Abbot's lodgings. At the north end of the west range is a fireplace
with segmental arch and bread oven, possibly post-reformation. Scheduled
Ancient Monument. Harland, J. Historical Account of the Cistercian Abbey
of Sawley, 1853.


Listing NGR: SD7765246433

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:
183470
Legacy System:
LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Harland, J, Historical Account of the Cistercian Abbey of Sawley, (1853)

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.

Ordnance survey map of Sawley Abbey Ruins

Map

This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 05-Jun-2026 at 14:20:07.

Download a full scale map (PDF)
© Crown copyright [and database rights] 2026. OS AC0000815036. Use of this mapping is subject to Terms and Conditions.

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.

Previous Overview
Next Comments and Photos