| Summary : The standing and buried remains of Cleeve Abbey church which stood on the north side of the cloister, with the west end of the nave facing the outer court. Its position can be seen in its lower courses only. The church was the earliest stone building on the site, begun circa 1200 and not completed before the middle of the 13th century. It has a square ended presbytery, transepts, each with two eastern chapels, and an aisled nave of seven bays. The easternmost bay of the south aisle wall contained the professional doorway to the cloister. The first floor doorway and the blocked ground floor doorway in the westernmost bay of the aisle contain reused material and both are insertions belonging to a cottage that was built here after the Dissolution. The monks' quire occupied the crossing and the easternmost bay of the nave, and the L-shaped foundations for the quire stalls can be seen. The south wall of the south transept still stands to the height of the adjoining dorter, and originally stood much higher. In its centre is a doorway leading to the sacristy at ground floor level. |