Leominster abbey was anAnglo-Saxon monastery established atLeominster in the county ofHereford,England. The name of the town refers to itsminster, a settlement of clergy living a communal life.
The monastery, perhapsfounded in the seventh century, was originally a male house. After being destroyed by Danes, it was rebuilt as aBenedictineabbey fornuns (seeLeominster nunnery).In 1046 theabbess, Eadgifu, was abducted bySweyn Godwinson.[1] Eadgifu is only abbess known by name.[1] The convent was probably dissolved or suppressed not long after this incident.[citation needed]`
In the 12th centuryHenry I incorporated land at Leominster into the foundation ofReading Abbey inBerkshire.[2]Reading Abbey in turn founded a Benedictinepriory inLeominster of which thePriory Church survives atgrid referenceSO49855927.[3] Whether the priory was built on the site of the original Anglo-Saxon monastery is not clear. However, archaeological evidence of Saxon activity has been uncovered at the priory.[citation needed]
The Galba Prayer Books, used at Leominster Abbey during the early 11th century, were probably mostly copied by a female scribe after 1016, whom medieval scholar and historian Katie Ann-Marie Bugyis calls "one of the most prolific contributors to the compilation"[4] and most likely worked at the request of her abbess. This scribe wrote inOld English andLatin. Bugyis speculates that the female scribe, likeEdith of Wilton, created the Galba book for her own use, but that her fellow nuns later made their own contributions to it, either in direct collaboration with her or after her death, and that eventually it became a way to train those who used it in their own prayer practices.[4]
52°13′44″N2°44′06″W / 52.229°N 2.735°W /52.229; -2.735
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