[Illustration: TORR STEPS ON THE RIVER BARLE.
An early form of bridge, probably of Celtic origin.]
CLEEVE ABBEY, SOMERSET
=How to get there.=--From Paddington. Great Western Station. To
Washford Station _via_ Taunton.
=Nearest Station.=--Washford (2 or 3 minutes' walk).
=Distance from London.=--182-1/4 miles.
=Average Time.=--Varies between 5-1/2 to 7 hours.
1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=--Single 30s. 4d. 19s. 0d. 15s. 3d.
Return 53s. 0d. 33s. 3d. 30s. 4d.
=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"Luttrell Arms Hotel," "Dunster,"
4-1/2 miles from Washford. "Metropole," "Beach," "Plume of
Feathers," etc., at Minehead, 6-1/2 miles from Washford.
At Cleeve the Cistercian abbey church has disappeared, save for the
bases of the pillars in the nave, but the conventual buildings are some
of the most perfect in England, those of Beaulieu in Hampshire and
Fountains in Yorkshire being the only ones able to compare with them.
One first passes through the magnificent old gatehouse pictured here.
Inside is a large grassy space, with the mass of buildings facing one.
They are arranged in a quadrangular form, enclosing a grassy cloister
garth. On the south side is the refectory, a magnificent hall above some
small rooms on the ground floor. It is believed to have been built by
Abbot Dovell in the sixteenth century. The roof, of carved walnut, is in
a perfect state of preservation. From the refectory one may pass into
the Abbots' Lodge, then descending to the cloister garth again, one may
penetrate all the different portions of the buildings--the day-room,
where the monks did all sorts of work; the dormitory, where they slept;
the chapter-house, where they conducted the business of the abbey; the
sacristy, the parlour, and other smaller rooms.
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