The 2009 - 2018 closure of Reading Abbey ruins

NB Reading Abbey Ruins were re-opened to the public on June 16th 2018. This page relating to the closure will be moved elsewhere within the website as a permanant record of the closure

The ruins of Reading Abbey have been closed to the public since 2009 owing to the risk of flints falling from the walls. The £3.15m cost to stabilise the walls and conserve the ruins is to be met by joint funding between Reading Borough Council (£1.38m) and the Heritage Lotttery Fund (£1.77m). This 'Reading Abbey Revealed' project is now underway and the ruins are scheduled to be re-opened to the public during 2018.
The links below give further information about the closure: to websites about the Reading Abbey Quarter and 'Reading Abbey Revealed' project; and to articles from the time when the ruins were closed in 2009 and the subsequent bids for funding to carry out the necessary work to conserve them.

Description

Link

Links to Reading Museum websites giving information about the Abbey Quarter. There are four links:
1) The Visit page on Reading Museum's Abbey Quarter website gives information about the closure of the Abbey ruins
2) The About page on Reading Museum's Abbey Quarter website gives information about the Reading Abbey Revealed project
3) A link to the Abbey Quarter Facebook page, which gives the most up-to-date news
4) Reading Museum's Abbey Quarter Twitter page also for up-to-date news (note: you do not need to have Facebook/Twitter accounts to read their Abbey Quarter pages)
1. Visit the Abbey Quarter
2. About the Abbey Quarter
3. Reading Abbey Quarter Facebook page
4. Reading Abbey Quarter Twitter page
Links to websites from the time when the Abbey ruins were closed due to risk of falling masonry. The start of the closure   June 2008: Reading Chronicle
Initial repair work       March 2009: BBC
Inner Gateway also closed   February 2010: BBC
Survey of the condition of the ruins   October 2010: BBC
Several attempts were made to secure Heritage Lottery Funding to conserve the ruins and re-open them to the public. These websites give an account of these attempts and subsequent activity.
  		First HLF bid fails   May 2012: BBC
Second attempt fails   February 2013: BBC
Promising start to third bid... June 2014: BBC
followed by success   December 2015: BBC
Appointment of contractors   January 2017: Reading Chronicle
Work starts, 13 Feb. 2017:   Reading Borough Council press release ; BBC ; Reading Chronicle
The latest news about the work being carried out on the ruins can be seen on the News page of this website, on the Friends' Facebook page and on the Reading Abbey Quarter Facebook and Twitter pages Friends' website News page
Friends' Facebook page
Reading Abbey Quarter Facebook page
Reading Abbey Quarter Twitter page