The Abbey was founded in the 8th Century, with St Guthlac living there as a hermit from the years 699 until 714. The Abbey was dissolved in 1539, and over the centuries large sections of the building have collapsed. The building itself has had a torrid history. It was ransacked by the Danes in AD 870 with the then Abbott Theodore being murdered. There was also a disastrous fire in AD 1091, in which the entire building was razed to the ground. The Abbey was re-built, but suffered another fire in the 12th Century, with some reports stating that the Abbey was also damaged in an earthquake at one point!
As well as the obvious damage, a closer look shows that many of the statues have been defaced over the years, with many heads missing and faces obliterated. Some of this damaged would have occurred during the English Civil War when the Abbey was under seige for three months. The nave roof collapsed in 1720.
The North Aisle of the Abbey is used as the Parish church today, and this is about an eighth the size of what the building would have been before 1539.
The west front is truly remarkable for the number of exquisite carvings. These date from the 12th to the 14th centuries and it is said that the west front was an imitation of Wells Cathedral.
