The Warden Abbey Project

To the west of the parish lies the site of Warden Abbey, a Cistercian monastery founded in 1135 by Walter Espec, son or nephew of William Spec who was Old Warden’s Domesday Lord of the Manor. It was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1537 and the substantial monastic buildings were razed to the ground. The private site is now protected by Historic England and there is no access, although Warden Abbey Vineyard offers viewpoints and references to the Abbey’s history in guided tours of the vineyard – www.wardenvineyard.org.uk.

In 2016/17 Old Warden History & Heritage Society successfully raised the funds needed to carry out a full geophysical survey of the site and to commission a reconstruction painting. Grant providers included Old Warden Parish Council and the Greensand Country Landscape Partnership.

Museum of London Archaeology, aided by local volunteers, carried out the survey in April 2017 with outstanding results. The following year the society commissioned a detailed reconstruction painting showing what Warden Abbey may have looked like in the late C14. Aided by the ‘geophys’ results skilled reconstruction artist Peter Dunn completed the painting helped by guidance from local researcher, Margaret Roberts, and leading Cistercian expert Dr Glyn Coppack.

Finally in 2020 a further illustration was completed by artist Phil Kenning which shows the view of the Abbey from the vantage point of the vineyard car parking area. Visitors and local people can now see two representations of the amazing building lost to the parish nearly 500 years ago.

The geophysical survey, painting and illustration can be seen on the OWHHS website –

Warden Abbey, late C14 – by Peter Dunn