The gardening event on Saturday 23rd July 2022 saw a couple of interesting developments we wanted to share. We have been experimenting with information signage and placed a couple of draft signs on the railings around the Abbey site. These appeared to generate interest with several passers-by stopping to read and may have helped to encourage visitors to the site - in the first hour we had 15 visitors. We will continue to experiment with these signs over the summer.
In other developments, work in the nave area continued. We managed to clear tree debris, weeds and overgrown bushes in the first section of the nave. This led to the uncovering of what we believe to be the 'Night Stairs' - stairs that would have been used by the Abbot, Canons and Lay Brothers to enter the main nave area during the night to pray. We hope to continue this work in the nave area, clearing the weeds and overgrown bushes. The nave would have been the main focus of the Abbey complex and it is our hope that we can clear a large part of the weeds and bushes in this area, which has not been exposed for some considerable time.