The High Altar and East End of the Church

The high altar of the abbey church stood in the east end of the building, which was rebuilt from the 1190s in a very unusual and splendid form.

The east end of the church in the 13th century.  The stairs used by the choir monks to pass from the dormitory to the church for night services are visible in the south transept.  Monks who were priests used the radiating chapels to celebrate private masses.  (Drawing by Jill Atherton).© English Heritage The foundations show that the east end of the church was semicircular and surrounded by an aisle or ambulatory and five projecting chapels.  This plan was unusual in English Cistercian churches and was probably inspired by French designs familiar to the patrons of the abbey, the Verduns, who owned lands in Normandy until 1204.

The high stone vaults that ceiled the end of the church were very grand and must have been expensive.  They were not finished until the mid-13th century, a long time after the rest of the church was finished.

Several stone coffins can still be seen near the high altar.  They are the tombs of the founding family and other benefactors.  In the 14th century, abbots preferred this part of the church for burial rather than the chapter house.