Cerne Abbey in Cerne Abbas, England
Founded in 987 AD by the Anglo-Saxon nobleman Æthelmær and dissolved by Henry VIII in 1539, the abbey was converted into a private manor house and has remained in private hands ever since.
Unlike the dramatic ruins found at Fountains or Rievaulx, Cerne Abbey is a working estate, lived in, cared for and quietly extraordinary. Two medieval buildings survive in remarkable condition. The Abbot's Porch, completed around 1509, is a three-storey Tudor gatehouse with carved royal heraldry, a two-storey oriel window and an original spy hole through which the porter would screen arriving visitors.
The 15th-century Guest House, one of the few surviving monastic guest houses in England, once received Queen Margaret of Anjou during the Wars of the Roses.
Private guided tours are led by the family who have called the abbey home since 1978, offering access to buildings and stories that no guidebook contains. Tea is served in the courtyard afterwards, which feels entirely appropriate.
