Bayham Old Abbey

Founded c. 1208 through a combination of the failing Premonstratensian monasteries of Otham and Brockley, Bayham functioned as an abbey until its dissolution in the 16th century.

They largely consist of partial walls, though the room layouts can still be seen, and there remain many examples of ornate capitals and other carved stonework; including stone frameworks from the three giant windows comprising the nave.

The Abbey was home to Premonstratensian canons regular: that is to say they followed the life ascribed to St Augustine of Hippo, keeping the Augustinian rule in its purity.

Once Bayham was under the King's control, it was leased to Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu, until Queen Elizabeth sold the estate outright.

The new grounds were landscaped by Humphry Repton, who included within his plans the old abbey, which Samuel Hieronymus Grimm had sketched about 1785, emphasising the grand scale and picturesque character of its ivy-clad walls.

[6] Some modifications were made to the abbey during this time, memorialised in one of Repton's most complete "Red Books", with the inscription "Application of Gardening and Architecture united, in the formation of a new place".