Malmesbury Abbey, Benedictine abbey in Malmesbury, England
Malmesbury Abbey is a medieval monastery church in the English town of Malmesbury in Wiltshire. Built from pale stone, the church displays several arches with fine carvings, and its south entrance holds reliefs of biblical scenes dating from the 12th century.
Aldhelm established the monastery in the year 676 as a small priory, which later grew into a major center of learning. By the 11th century, the abbey held the second largest library in Europe, before much of the building was dismantled during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII.
The name honors Aldhelm, a 7th-century scholar who served as Bishop of Sherborne before founding this monastery. Visitors today find the grave of King Æthelstan inside, whose resting place has been maintained here for over a thousand years and is often marked with fresh flowers.
The church is open daily to visitors and also serves as the parish church for regular worship. Guided tours explain the building history and the remaining Norman features, with most areas accessible without steps.
In the early 11th century, the monk Eilmer jumped from the abbey tower with homemade wings and flew roughly 200 meters (656 feet) before breaking both legs on landing. This attempt is considered the first documented human gliding experiment in history.
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