Chertsey Abbey

Chertsey Abbey

Medieval stained glass with the arms of the abbey, a sword and the keys of St Peter
Monastery information
Order	Benedictine
Established	666 refounded: 964
Disestablished	1537
Dedicated to	St Peter
People
Founder(s)	Saint Erkenwald
Important associated figures	King Frithuwald of Surrey King Henry VI
Site
Location	Chertsey, Surrey, England
Coordinates	51°23′42″N 0°30′11″W / 51.3950°N 0.5031°W / 51.3950; -0.5031
Visible remains	Yes
Public access	Yes

Chertsey Abbey, dedicated to St Peter, was a Benedictine monastery located at Chertsey in the English county of Surrey.^[1][2]

It was founded in 666 AD by Saint Erkenwald who was the first abbot, and from 675 AD the Bishop of London. At the same time he founded the abbey at Chertsey, Erkenwald founded Barking Abbey on the Thames east of London, where his sister Saint Ethelburga was the first abbess.

In the 9th century it was sacked by the Danes and refounded from Abingdon Abbey by King Edgar of England in 964. In the eleventh century the monks engineered the Abbey River as an offshoot of the River Thames to supply power to the abbey's watermill. In late medieval times, the Abbey became famous as the burial place of King Henry VI (whose body was later transferred to St George's Chapel, Windsor). The abbey was dissolved by the commissioners of King Henry VIII in 1537, but the community moved to Bisham.