[2] The abbey is located in the borough of Redditch in Worcestershire, on the south bank of the River Arrow, close to where it meets the Batchley Brook.

[4] The plan of the church was cruciform, with an aisleless presbytery, transepts each with three eastern chapels, and an aisled eight-bay nave housing the choirs of the monks and lay brothers.

[5] The site is managed by the Forge Mill Needle Museum, which provides access to the abbey ruin, included within its entry fee as well as guided tours.

[3] Bordeseley Abbey was founded during a period known as The Anarchy, a breakdown in law and order which followed the disputed accession of Stephen, King of England.

Historians generally date the founding of the abbey to 1138, when Waleran de Beaumont, Count of Meulan and Worcester filed a charter for the site.

This was managed through a system of around twenty granges, established by the early 13th century and located in Worcestershire and Warwickshire, up to 35 kilometres (22 mi) from the abbey itself.

[10] This chapel, dedicated to St Stephen, survived the Dissolution and continued to be used by the parish; it was demolished in 1805 when a new church was built in the centre of Redditch town.