Reading Abbey Then and Now
Although Reading Abbey is abandoned today, it would have been a marvelous site to see in its heyday. Had it survived, Reading Abbey would have been one of the most perfect examples of Norman architecture in England. The monastery was built between the two rivers Kennet and the Thames. It would have had an elaborate cloister which had monsters carved into the capitals, known as the “beak heads.” The size of the structure was grand and the abbey would have been painted in vibrant reds, yellows and blues. In 2018, Reading Museum created a digital model of what they believed the Reading Abbey may have looked like before dissolution by King Henry VIII .