England Trip - The Dissolution

Our history lesson from this trip was all about the Dissolution. In the 1500s, when Henry VIII broke from the Catholic church, he disbanded the monastic communities in England, Wales and Ireland. Many abbeys, monasteries and priories were destroyed as a result. One exception was Ely Cathedral. The building itself was not destroyed, but the statues were all defaced and beheaded and much of the stained glass was broken (although the Victorian era brought about new stained glass for the Cathedral). Just about every town we visited in my brother's region had ruins from these destroyed buildings. What was amazing was how large some of these buildings were. Many would have dwarfed any other structures in the towns, including the cathedrals. It showed these monastic communities had considerable power before Henry VIII took matters into his own hands.

Castle Acre Priory

Bury St. Edmunds Abbey

Ely Beheadings

Thetford Priory

Churches England Trip Cambridge

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November 3-14 2007