Lesnes Abbey

Lesnes Abbey is a former abbey, now ruined, in Abbey Wood, in the London Borough of Bexley, southeast London, England. It is a scheduled ancient monument and the adjacent Lesnes Abbey Woods are a Local Nature Reserve. Part of the wood is the Abbey Wood SSSI, a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest which is an important site for early Tertiary fossils.HistoryAfter the Norman Conquest of 1066, the area of Lesnes, close to the town of Erith, passed into the possession of Bishop Odo and is mentioned in the Domesday Survey as Loisnes in the Hundred of Litlelai. The year 1178 saw the foundation of the Abbey of St Mary and St Thomas the Martyr at Lesnes.Lesnes Abbey, as it is known, was founded by Richard de Luci, Chief Justiciar of England, in 1178. It is speculated, this may have been in penance for the murder of Thomas Becket, in which he was involved. In 1179, de Luci resigned his office and retired to the Abbey, where he died three months later. He was buried in the chapter house.