The Cistercian Abbey of St Mary and St Laurence at Revesby was founded in 1142 by William de Romara, Earl of Lincoln, and dissolved in 1539. It was colonised from Rievaulx, Yorkshire, and in 1535 its net income was over £287. In 1376 there was an abbot, 27 monks and 4 lay brothers. No standing structure remains on the site. In 1869, poor excavations revealed the north-east corner of the cloister and part of the nave. A number of architectural fragments are built into the west tower of Revesby church and these may come from the abbey. The former site of the high altar is marked by a 19th century burial with an inscribed slab, in the area of grid reference TF 2992 6081. A concentration of grassed over banks to the south-west indicates the main building layout and this is central to a considerable area of associated earthworks, principally moat-type ditches and fishponds. {1}{2}{3}{4}{5}{6}{7}{8}{9}