The Waverley Abbey

Guess what I did today? That's right folks, one more 4 hour bike ride.

I got off to a somewhat later start than usual, leaving the house just after 2pm. As I rode, I noticed that the sun was quite low in the sky and then it hit me, the sun sets at around 4:30! How could that little fact possibly slipped my mind? I immediately picked up my pace, I had a destination today!

Last night I noticed an interesting spot on my road map, an abbey nearby which had the remains of its original building still standing in the fields around it. Sounded like a good spot to check out so I saddled up for the third day in a row and hit the road.

As I raced the sun to the abbey, I stopped once to say hello to these guys:

And once more, across the street from the abbey entrance, to photograph this spot:

This shot was taken handheld at 1/8 of a second to blur the water.

I entered the abbey as the sun was just starting to dip behind the tree line, I knew I had to move fast if I wanted to capture this historical site. I was the only person there for nearly an hour.

The Waverley Abbey was the first Cistercian abbey in England, founded in 1128 by William Gifford, the bishop of Winchester. During its first century of existence, the abbey founded six monasteries and, despite the members sent away to run those monasteries, had 70 monks and 120 brothers in 1187. 

A few hundred years later in 1536, during the rule of Henry VIII, the abbey was forced to shut down and the stones from the buildings were used to build homes in the surrounding villages. Today, very little of the original abbey structures remain intact.

In the above picture, there are 2 cubes of stone. As I sat on the nearer of the two and enjoyed a snack of Sun Chips and water, I took a minute to absorb the history of what lay around me. Almost 1000 years ago, the very place I sat was smack dab in the middle of the monk's dormitory. Their beds would have been all around me, lamps would be burning in the recessed holes next to the windows (which still remain today).

As I moved through the remains, I stumbled upon a river that ran behind the complex. It was completely silent as it flowed past, I had no idea it existed until I was standing 3 feet from it. I moved along the banks a bit before coming across a collection of strangely shaped concrete mounds:

I later learned that these mounds were actually tank traps, put in place during WW2 as part of the "GHQ Line." I read on to learn that the ruins and abbey had actually been used as as part of the line of defenses that England set up during the war. Pretty cool I think. 

I began to head out of the ruins but on my way noticed an enormous old tree with twisted, gnarled roots; I had to investigate. As I walked around the tree I noticed a small holly bush nestled within the roots. The tree's dense branches blocked the little light that still existed in the sky so I cranked the shutter down to 1/15 of a second and framed the shot. The ruins can be seen, out of focus, in the background of the shot.

As the sun sunk below the horizon, I took a moment to reflect upon what I had observed and learned walking around the ruins in that hour. To be in such a place of history, to walk where hundreds of years ago monks had been farming and living, was really something special. I think what really allowed me to fully enjoy this site more than anything else was the fact that I was completely alone. I was able to absorb it all without any expectation, without the distraction of a guide or others around me. I was exploring history and learning through observation and imagination. 

As I left the ruins, I could not ignore the sky. I took these on my way out:

Every day when I set out on my ride, I think to myself, "how can I possibly top yesterday?" It seems that every day that I am here I manage to find a new adventure, a new feature of the English countryside ripe for the shooting. As I head into the last hours of the day, I can only imagine what tomorrow will bring.