Shrewsbury Abbey 3.81

The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Shrewsbury is an ancient foundation in Shrewsbury, the county town of Shropshire, England.The Abbey was founded in 1083 as a Benedictine monastery by the Norman Earl of Shrewsbury, Roger de Montgomery. It grew to be one of the most important and influential abbeys in England, and an important centre of pilgrimage. Although much of the Abbey was destroyed in the 16th century, the nave survived as a parish church, and today serves as the mother church for the Parish of Holy Cross.The Abbey is a Grade I listed building and is a member of the Greater Churches Group. It is located to the east of Shrewsbury town centre, near the English Bridge, and is surrounded by a triangular area which is today referred to as Abbey Foregate.HistoryFoundationBefore the Norman conquest a small Saxon chapel dedicated to St Peter stood outside the east gate of Shrewsbury; it had been built by Siward, son of Ethelgar and a close relative of Edward the Confessor. There was still a landowner, known as Siward the Fat, in Shropshire at Domesday, although he had owned many more estates in 1066. He must have been the donor of the two estates the church is known from Domesday to have held in 1066: at Boreton near Condover and Lowe near Farley. However, the Abbey had lost Lowe by 1087.