Soham Abbey
Encyclopedia
Soham Abbey was constructed by St Felix of Burgundy during the early part of the 7th Century and was the first Roman Christian site to be established in Cambridgeshire
. It is believed that the church was of a squat, low design with a long north transept and 4/5 bays long with a round tower standing nearby. St. Felix was originally buried here as well.
This evidence is taken from a woodcut made later on that shows the abbey surrounded by monastic buildings and with a wall and moat around the complex. This can be traced today in a circle starting at the new vicarage and going down station road before coming up along Gardiners lane and then up Clay street. The route is then completed by going along Brook Dam lane and then following Paddock street around back to the new vicarage.
It was destroyed by a Viking
raid in 869
and never rebuilt. The modern church (dedicated to St Andrew not to Felix) is believed to have been built on the same site as the abbey but there is no fabric left from that time. The earliest part of the current church is the crossing (can't be seen from the outside) which is from the twelfth century and has a border of heavily indented zigzags. The rest of the building dates from the 14th century while the tower is from the 16th century and replaced a fallen crossing tower.
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
. It is believed that the church was of a squat, low design with a long north transept and 4/5 bays long with a round tower standing nearby. St. Felix was originally buried here as well.
This evidence is taken from a woodcut made later on that shows the abbey surrounded by monastic buildings and with a wall and moat around the complex. This can be traced today in a circle starting at the new vicarage and going down station road before coming up along Gardiners lane and then up Clay street. The route is then completed by going along Brook Dam lane and then following Paddock street around back to the new vicarage.
It was destroyed by a Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
raid in 869
869
Year 869 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* May 26 – An earthquake and tsunami devastate a large part of the Sanriku coast near Sendai, Japan....
and never rebuilt. The modern church (dedicated to St Andrew not to Felix) is believed to have been built on the same site as the abbey but there is no fabric left from that time. The earliest part of the current church is the crossing (can't be seen from the outside) which is from the twelfth century and has a border of heavily indented zigzags. The rest of the building dates from the 14th century while the tower is from the 16th century and replaced a fallen crossing tower.