Lesnes Abbey, Bexley

The view across the Courtyard towards the Monk's Garden.

Lesnes Abbey.

In 1178, Richard de Luci founded Lesnes Abbey, probably as penance for his involvement in the death of the Archbishop Thomas Beckett, who had been murdered in Canterbury Cathedral, in 1170.

Richard de Luci was Lord of the Manor of Erith and Chief Justiciar of England, a post he shared with Robert de Beaumont, Earl of Leicester. Upon Robert's death, in 1168, Richard held the post alone until he stepped down in 1178. The Chief Justiciar was second only to the King of England, making it a powerful role.

Lesnes Abbey was dedicated to St Mary and St Thomas, the martyr, and belonged to the order of Augustinian canons whose duty it was to baptise, preach, give penance and bury the dead. Belonging to the Augustinian order the Abbey was never wealthy,  largely due to the expense of repairing and maintaining the adjacent river walls.

The Abbey was an impressive building, with huge columns supporting the high ceilings, while highly decorated tiles covered the floors of some of the rooms. 

Looking east along the Nave.

The most important areas of the Abbey were the church, the buildings around the cloister, the infirmary and the great court. It was in these areas that the monks (canons) lived and worked, looked after the sick, showed hospitality to guests, made contact with the outside world and carried out day-to-day administration of the monastery and its estates. These estates included the marshland that stretched north to the River Thames.

A spring-filled pond, situated close to the Monk's Garden, provided fresh water for the monastery.

Walking with Keilyn: Abbey Wood to Crossness... and beyond

Lesnes Abbey viewpoint.

Saturday December 27, 2025.

Today marked the last walk of 2025, for Keilyn and I.

It began with a taxi to Watford Underground station, where we caught a train to Finchley Road and, from there, a Jubilee line train to Bond Street. A walk through the various passageways brought us to the Eastbound platforms, where we waited three minutes for a train. We had decided that we would catch the first train, regardless of its destination. As it was, an Abbey Wood-bound train was the first to arrive.

A little while later we had reached the terminus and exited the station onto Harrow Manorway. Within minutes we were entering Lesnes Abbey Woods.

A monk.

We followed the path, which brought us to Monks Close which we followed, until we entered the largest part of Abbey Woods. To our right we noticed the carved figure of a monk with his Crosier, atop a tree stump. After taking a few photos we made our way to the 'Chestnuts Kiosk', where hot drinks were purchased, before we set off to explore the grounds.

The monk's garden.

Lesnes Abbey Monk's Garden, was our first exploration, where various plants that aided in 'healing' the sick were planted. At its centre was a seated area, with, as its focal point, a giant Crosier. We continued our exploration of the garden, before following the path towards Lesnes Abbey itself.

Various information boards were dotted around, but none of them explained, or could adequately convey, the sheer size of the ruins. It wasn't until Keilyn and I were among the various broken walls and foundations that we could appreciate its scale, and what it would have looked like when it was built, in 1178.

Lesnes Abbey ruins.

We explored every inch of it. From the West Door to the Infirmary to the Kitchens and everything in between. Keilyn took notes and 'googled' various words, such as 'Slype' or 'Reredorter'.

Once we had explored the ruins, the view of the London skyline from the edge of the woods, the Mulberry tree planted by King James I, and the mosaic, we made our way out of the park via the footbridge over Abbey Road. (Not the Abbey Road made famous by 'The Beatles', which is in St John's Wood).

A pony on Erith Marshes.

This path flowed through green spaces, between some brutalist concrete buildings, and brought us to South Mere Lake. Here the path split, so we chose to go right, which brought us to South Mere Park and Erith Marshes. It was here that we saw some ponies in a field.

Dagenham.

We continued following various pathways, passing the Erith Town Football Club ground and a new nature reserve, which is on the site of the old 'Thamesview Golf Centre', which closed in 2014. Eventually we ended up beside the 'Crossness Pumping Station'. Across the river we could see the 'Dagenham Oil Storage Depot' and the 'Ford Motor Company' Dagenham Plant. 

Oops. We were now further east than we had expected. So, we simply pointed our feet westward and continued walking.