Chapter House, Reading Abbey Ruins
photograph - about 1900
Interior of the Chapter House, Reading Abbey Ruins
This view shows the interior of the Chapter House of Reading Abbey looking west. It was probably taken shortly before a plaque commemorating the song 'Sumer is icumen in' was erected by Dr J.B. Hurry on the north wall in 1913. The Abbey was founded in 1121 by King Henry I, the youngest son of William the Conqueror, and was his burial place. The Ruins today mainly consist of the monastic buildings that formed the east side of the cloister range that includes the Chapter House.
The Chapter House is the part of the Ruins that most conveys the former scale and power of King Henry’s buildings. It is oblong in plan with a semi-circular east end and was one of the largest chapter houses in the country. This is where the Abbot conducted the Abbey’s business and the community held its daily meeting at 9 o’clock every morning where a chapter from the rule of St Benedict was read. Important visitors were received in this room and Parliament’s lower house met here when called at Reading. This image shows the lower traces of the barrel vault that once roofed over this large space. Undulations in the flint core of the walls show where the outer limestone blocks, including pillars and decorative arches, were robbed away in the 16th century.
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