St Johns Abbey Gatehouse, St Johns Green, Colchester, Essex
This gatehouse is the only building that remains of the Abbey of St John the Baptist. A Benedictine abbey was founded here in 1096-7. The abbey was dissolved by King Henry VIII in 1539 and in 1544 it passed to Sir Thomas Darcy. In 1548 some of the buildings were converted to a residence. Part of the precinct is thought to have been converted to a formal garden. The house served as a Royalist stronghold during the siege of Colchester in 1648. Following the imprisonment of Dutch prisoners in the 1660s, the remaining buildings, except the gatehouse, were demolished. The grounds passed to various owners before being acquired by the War Office in 1860. This property is now in the care of English Heritage (2010) and managed by the Colchester Borough Council. Find out more.
Location
Essex ColchesterPeriod
Tudor (1485 - 1602)Themes
