[2][3] The monks and nuns of the abbey were almost exclusively nobles and aristocrats, with many of the abbesses, such as Werburgh, related to royalty.

[2] In 697 the abbey, when under the control of Abbess Alfthritha, was visited by Guthlac, who wished to receive "the tonsure and religious dress, determined to do penance for his sins".

[1] The abbey's crypt was constructed in the first half of the 8th century (before 740), and is thought to have originally been a baptistery, as it is built on top of a natural spring.

[2] In the autumn of 873 the Great Heathen Army reached Repton, establishing winter quarters there, before completing their conquest of Mercia in 874.

[2] The River Trent at this point ran adjacent to the abbey grounds; it now flows around a quarter of a mile north of the village.

[2] Little of the Saxon abbey church could be saved, and much of the upper walls and the entire roof had to be completely rebuilt.

[2] In the 12th century the advowson of this church was given to the newly formed Repton Priory, which was established a short distance away.

[5] They were later returned, but King Cnut had Wigstan's remains removed again in the 10th century to be reburied at Evesham Abbey.

[7] [8] In the 1980s, a mass grave thought to be associated with the Great Danish Army was found in St Wystan's Church in Repton by archaeologists Martin Biddle and Birthe Kjølbye-Biddle and their team.

Many of them showed signs of violent injury, and a variety of Viking artefacts, such as a Thor pendant, were found among the bones.