Keynsham Abbey

Keynsham Abbey

Ruins of Keynsham Abbey
Monastery information
Full name	The house of the Canons of the Order of St. Austin and St. Victor
Order	Augustinian
Established	c. 1170
Disestablished	1539
People
Founder(s)	William, Earl of Gloucester
Site
Location	Keynsham, Somerset, England
Coordinates	51°25′02″N 2°29′46″W / 51.4172°N 2.4961°W / 51.4172; -2.4961Coordinates: 51°25′02″N 2°29′46″W / 51.4172°N 2.4961°W / 51.4172; -2.4961

Keynsham Abbey located in Keynsham, Somerset, England, was a monastic abbey founded c. 1166 by William, Earl of Gloucester. The abbey was established as a house of Augustinian canons regular, and operated until the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539.

Keysham abbey was located on the south side of the River Avon at the confluence of the River Avon and the River Chew, in what is now known as the Keynsham Hams, an alluvial flood plain consisting of open fields, pastures, and meadows, divided by hedgerows and ditches. The site has been inhabited since prehistoric times, and was also the site of a 4th-century Roman settlement, possibly called Trajectus, which was abandoned after the withdrawal of the Roman legions from Britain. The Abbey was built near the old Roman Road, which became the Bath Road connecting London with Bath and Bristol. Today the ruins of the abbey can be seen in Keynsham's Memorial Park, situated near the Keynsham railway station and the A4 Bypass road.

There had been a religious settlement in Keynsham during the 9th and 10th centuries, but the main abbey was founded by William, Earl of Gloucester, the year of his son's Robert's death in 1166, and traditionally at his son's dying request. It was founded as a house of Augustinian canons regular, or priests living in a monastic community and performing clerical duties. The canons at Keynsham adopted the then popular monastic order of Saint Victor, so that the head of the religious house was always called an abbot, and the house was known as the House of the Canons of Saint Austin and Saint Victor.