Precinct wall to Keynsham Abbey
Precinct wall to Keynsham Abbey, Rear of High Street
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1392955
- Date first listed:
- 17-Oct-2008
- List Entry Name:
- Precinct wall to Keynsham Abbey
- Statutory Address:
- Precinct wall to Keynsham Abbey, Rear of High Street
Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1392955
- Date first listed:
- 17-Oct-2008
- List Entry Name:
- Precinct wall to Keynsham Abbey
- Statutory Address 1:
- Precinct wall to Keynsham Abbey, Rear of High Street
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.
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.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- Precinct wall to Keynsham Abbey, Rear of High Street
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Bath and North East Somerset (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Keynsham
- National Grid Reference:
- ST 65450 68763, ST 65454 68852
Reasons for Designation
Keynsham Abbey precinct wall has been designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* As a relatively well preserved element of the Medieval abbey, other elements of which are listed and scheduled.
* Provides visual evidence of the westward extent of the abbey
* For its early date
Details
739-1/0/10005
KEYNSHAM
Rear of High Street
Precinct wall to Keynsham Abbey
17-OCT-08
II
Two separate lengths of abbey precinct wall survive above the ground at Keynsham.
Northernmost length extends from the junction between Station Road and The Park, extends southward for 25m and forms the eastern edge of the churchyard of Grade II* listed St John the Baptist Church. The wall is faced with dressed limestone blocks, stands up to six courses high on the east and survives as a buried feature on the west. Later walling has been added on top of the precinct wall and topped with gently rounded coping slabs.
Southernmost length of precinct wall leads from NGR ST 6544068794 for 61m to ST 6545768735. The wall is faced with dressed limestone blocks standing up to 12 courses high. Later walling has been added on top and in one area a short length of the wall has been removed and re-built.
History: Augustinian Keynsham Abbey was founded around 1170 by William Earl of Gloucester. The abbey was very successful with a wide range of land holdings and other financial interests and grew to be one of the largest in the south-west of England. In 1539 the abbey was dissolved and large parts of the buildings demolished. In 1961 much of the cloister and nave was destroyed during the construction of the Keynsham by-pass. The precinct to the abbey was denoted by a wall on the west and the river Chew on the east. This wall was probably built during the C13 or C14 and partly dismantled in the years following the Dissolution.
Sources: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=40930 accessed 3rd July 2008
http://www.keynsham.co.uk/history.html accessed 3rd July 2008
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION
Keynsham Abbey precinct wall is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* As a relatively well preserved element of the Medieval abbey, other elements of which are listed and scheduled.
* Provides visual evidence of the westward extent of the abbey
* For its early date
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 504529
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 07-Jun-2026 at 06:20:49.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
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