Founded in the late 12th century by William de Roure, Earl of Lincoln, Cleeve Abbey has undergone some substantial changes throughout its history; from a Cistercian monastery to its destruction during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536, to its use as a private house having been sold off by Henry VIII and finally its function as a farm in the 17th century. This guidebook provides a tour of the abbey, both inside and out, and a history of its workings and the lives of the monks who once lived there.