Abingdon and
Abingdon Abbey
Abingdon Abbey ( '' " St Mary's Abbey " '' ) was a Benedictine monastery located in the centre of Abingdon-on-Thames beside the River Thames.
The abbey was founded c.675 AD in honour of The Virgin Mary.
The Domesday Book of 1086 informs ...
were founded in
Saxon times, possibly the 7th century. The early history of Abingdon (and its abbey) has been distorted by the numerous legends surrounding its history. The legends were invented to raise its status and explain the place-name. The name seems to mean 'Hill of a man named Æbba, or a woman named Æbbe', possibly the saint to whom
St Ebbe's Church in Oxford was dedicated (
Æbbe of Coldingham
Æbbe, also called Tabbs, (c. 615 – 683) was an Anglian abbess and noblewoman. She was the daughter of Æthelfrith, king of Bernicia from c. 593 to 616. She founded monasteries at Ebchester and St Abb's Head near Coldingham in Scotland.
Li ...
or a different
Æbbe of Oxford). However Abingdon is actually in a valley and not on a hill. It is thought that the name was first given to a place on
Boars Hill
Boars Hill is a Hamlet (place), hamlet southwest of Oxford, straddling the boundary between the Civil parishes in England, civil parishes of Sunningwell and Wootton, Vale of White Horse, Wootton. Historically, part of Berkshire until the Local ...
above
Chilswell
Chilswell is a small settlement in the parish of Cumnor, Oxfordshire. It lies between the village of South Hinksey and Boars Hill. In 1974 it was transferred from Berkshire.
The place was first mentioned in 1180 as ''Chiefleswelle''. The na ...
, and the name was transferred to its present site when the Abbey was relocated.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aebbingas
Peoples of Anglo-Saxon Mercia