Nearest train station to Cleeve Abbey

About Cleeve Abbey

Somerset retreat still stands as it did all those centuries ago.

The large monastic dormitory is one of the most stunning examples left in the country, still with the monk’s window seat the perfect spot to look out across the Somerset countryside or up to the ornate tiles of the abbey’s 17th century roof. Also still intact in various places around the grounds are floors of heraldic tiles that are even older, dating back to the 13th century, making the pavement tiles the most important to survive in Europe.

The vaulted refectory roof, made of majestic carved oak and intricately carved bosses, must not be missed, and nor should the great hall’s carved angels that adorn the beams from one end to another.

Head for the immaculate ancient cloister, enclosed on all four sides. It’s impossible not to breathe in the calm as you wander in the footsteps of monks from hundreds of years before. Be sure to pay a visit to the arched recess in the wall which once marked the abbot’s seat for daily reading.