--, Founded by Maydulphus--635, King Berthwald gives land at Summerford on Thames to the monastery--680, The monastery receives the town of Malmesbury from Lutherius, Bishop of Winchester--1248, Pope Innocent confirms the various grants and ordains that the rules of St Benedict “should always be observed here”--1539, Dissolved. Annual revenue, £803, 17s. 7d. As in the case of Abingdon, the ruins of “the right magnificent abbey” of Malmesbury have been ruthlessly encroached upon--squalid streets and shabby houses crowd about its walls, and only a small stretch of land remains undisturbed in the immediate precincts of the abbey. One indignity upon another has been heaped upon this monastery (with which the name of St Aldhelm is inseparably connected), which formerly stood second alone to Durham for beauty of situation and majesty of aspect. At the Dissolution, one William Stumpe, clothier, bought the monastery with the adjoining land for the extraordinarily large sum of £1117, 15s. 11d., selling the nave of the abbey soon afterwards for use as a parish church. The conventual buildings he converted into a mill for the weaving of cloth--whilst small houses were built and streets laid out over the gardens and orchards. Later on, the conventual buildings were turned into a stone quarry, and to-day nothing remains of them except [Illustration: MALMESBURY.] the abbot’s house which has been rebuilt, serving now as a picturesque and beautiful private house. Of the ruins there still stand the nave of seven bays with its massive Norman pillars, the aisles, and a wall belonging to the south transept. The south porch--a beautiful piece of Norman work--is said to be the finest of its kind in England, in execution as well as design. The west front--also Norman work--is ornamented with the signs of the Zodiac. In the north wall may be seen a door which led into the cloisters. These, and also the tower at the west end of the church were destroyed during the furious bombardment of Malmesbury by Oliver Cromwell, and on Restoration Day when the abbey was reduced to its present mutilated condition. Nothing remains of the great central tower save two arches. Work of the 12th and 14th centuries are evident in the vaulting of the nave and aisles. The Decorated clerestory was added during the reign of Edward III. The monument to the devout King Athelstan is also on the south side.