The Cluniac priory and abbey of St Saviour, Bermondsey, Surrey - Tony Dyson

Bermondsey Priory was founded in the 1080s on the south bank of
the Thames, located opposite the White Tower on an island which
was also the site of an Anglo-Saxon minster. Bermondsey became a
centre of pilgrimage and in 1399 the priory became an abbey,
before its transformation in the 16th century into a courtier's
mansion. The results of modern excavation of the eastern parts of
the church and cloister and inner court are complemented by
documentary research and a detailed, 19th-century survey of the
abbey. The early chapel and timber latrine and the free-standing
lavabo in the main cloister and possible bathhouse are
particularly important features of this Cluniac house. The
12th-century building programme and the subsequent remodelling of
the priory church and cloister, including the east range and
chapter house, and of the second infirmary cloister are examined.
The development of the monastic cemetery is described and 193
individuals buried at Bermondsey are analysed.Contraction and disuse of part of the eastern area in the abbey's
final years was followed by the discarding of a wealth of
artefacts and other material from the conventual buildings and by
systematic stripping at the Dissolution. The private Tudor
mansion constructed by Thomas Pope around the former main
cloister reused parts of the monastic buildings