Historic England tours Purcell's Abingdon Abbey scheme as Constructive Conservation exemplar

Purcell hosted Historic England and other heritage bodies at Abingdon Abbey in Oxfordshire earlier this month, showing its conservation works on the Grade I listed Scheduled Monument as part of Historic England's Constructive Conservation programme.

The practice said its Bristol team welcomed the visitors for a series of tours led by project architects Clare Phillips and Nuria Garcia. Purcell said the programme highlights exemplar projects that show how listed heritage assets can be adapted to remain relevant, sustainable and valuable to local communities.

Richard Peats, Principal Inspector of Historic Buildings and Areas at Historic England, said: "We want to show staff that Scheduled Monuments can, in the right circumstances, be adapted to serve the communities around them."

Purcell said the group was guided through the buildings and discussed their significance, the challenges they face and the reasoning behind the proposed works. Discussion centred on pressures facing smaller heritage trusts, including rising maintenance costs, the need for professional management and the importance of generating income, the practice said.

The project

Purcell said it was appointed by the Trust in 2017 to help secure the site's future, beginning with detailed condition surveys and a feasibility study that informed a development strategy to restore the buildings and improve the visitor experience.

The site currently operates as a community asset offering space for weddings and performances, Purcell said. Its proposals aim to enhance the buildings' cultural offer, improve accessibility and futureproof the buildings.

The Friends of Abingdon Abbey Buildings Trust announced on 13 May 2025 that it had been awarded a £4m grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Purcell's post also gives the figure as £4m, while the Trust's project page records the delivery-stage grant as £3.997m.

The Trust described a three-year project to transform the site. The Heritage Fund's project record sets out the planned works: windows to weatherproof the Long Gallery for year-round use, a new lift and level floors throughout so that all parts of the buildings are accessible, and a new glass-fronted lobby in The Unicorn Theatre with retractable seating and accessible toilets.

The Trust said urgent repairs and sensitive restoration would safeguard the Grade I listed buildings, with its stated aim being to open the Abbey Buildings to everyone through level access and a lift.

Gregory Bensberg MBE, Chair of the Abingdon Abbey Buildings Trust, said: "Making sure that everyone can access these, all year round, is the reason this project is needed."

The funding

Alongside the Heritage Fund grant, the Trust said in May 2025 that it had already raised more than £1.2m from Abingdon Town Council, the Wolfson Foundation, the Historic Houses Foundation, the Pilgrim Trust and the Oxfordshire Buildings Trust.

At that point the Trust said it would launch a public appeal for the remaining funds and hoped to start works by summer 2025. Purcell's November 2026 post describes conservation works currently being undertaken but does not give a start date or programme.

The buildings

According to the Trust, the Abbey Buildings are each Grade I listed, date from the 13th century and comprise the Unicorn Theatre, Checker, Undercroft and Long Gallery.

Abingdon-on-Thames Town Council says the Checker dates from the 1260s and was acquired by the Friends of Abingdon in the 1940s. The council says the quality of the carpentry in the Long Gallery shows it was intended as a high-status building.

The Trust's history page records that the Abbey was surrendered on 9 February 1538 at the Dissolution. The buildings eventually became derelict and were saved from demolition in 1944 by the Friends of Abingdon, it says.

The Unicorn Theatre was proposed as an Elizabethan-style theatre in July 1952, with construction starting that November, according to the Trust.

The Heritage Fund's project record says the Trust will carry out its conservation programme over three years.