Now lying in ruins 3 miles northeast of Winchcombe, this 13th-century Cistercian abbey was once, thanks to a long-running medieval scam, one of England’s main pilgrimage centres. The abbey was said – by Geoffrey Chaucer in The Canterbury Tales, among others – to possess a vial of Christ’s blood. Until that was denounced during the Reformation as containing no more than coloured water, thousands of pilgrims contributed to the abbey’s wealth. Free audio guides lead visitors around.
Hailes Abbey
The Cotswolds
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
25.88 MILES
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25.8 MILES
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15.34 MILES
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17.97 MILES
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18.13 MILES
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15.1 MILES
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17.51 MILES
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19.66 MILES
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Nearby The Cotswolds attractions
1.57 MILES
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1.88 MILES
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2.06 MILES
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3.43 MILES
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3.76 MILES
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4.44 MILES
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4.81 MILES
It’s well worth taking the time to wander down to lovely 12th-century St Eadburgha’s Church, a signposted 1-mile walk south of Broadway.
5.44 MILES
Built in 1798 to resemble an imaginary Saxon fort, this turreted Gothic folly looks down on Broadway from atop the escarpment, 1 mile southeast. William…