Editing Abingdon-on-Thames (section)

==Places of interest==
[[File:Abingdon Abbey, geograph.jpg|thumb|The Long Gallery at Abingdon Abbey]]
[[File:AbingdonBrBu02.JPG|thumb|[[Abingdon Bridge]] spans the [[River Thames]]. It was built in 1416 and much altered in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.]]
Of the [[Benedictine]] [[Abingdon Abbey]] there remains a [[English Gothic architecture|Perpendicular]] gateway and ruins of the mainly [[English Gothic architecture|Early English]] [[Prior (ecclesiastical)|prior]]'s house, the guest house and other fragments. Other remains from the former abbey include the Unicorn Theatre and the Long Gallery, which are still used for plays and functions including an annual craft fair. [[St Nicolas' Church, Abingdon|St. Nicolas' Church]], parts of which were built in 1180, is near the museum.{{sfn|Hoiberg|2010|p=33}} [[Abingdon Bridge]] over the [[Thames]], near [[St Helen's Church, Abingdon|St Helen's Church]], was built in 1416 and was widened or altered in 1790,{{sfn|Jervoise|1930|p=7}} 1828,{{sfn|Jervoise|1930|p=6}} 1927 and 1929.{{sfn|Hoiberg|2010|p=33}}{{sfn|Jervoise|1930|p=7}}{{sfn|Leeming|Salter|1937|pp=134–140}} Abbey Gateway between the [[Abingdon County Hall Museum]] and the Guildhall remains a point of local importance.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.abingdon.gov.uk/history/buildings/abbey-gateway-abbey-close |title=Abbey Gateway, Abbey Close |date=20 April 2013 |publisher=Abingdon Council |access-date=5 April 2021 |archive-date=13 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413053719/https://abingdon.gov.uk/history/buildings/abbey-gateway-abbey-close |url-status=live }}</ref>

Abingdon has the remains of a [[motte-and-bailey castle]], which can be found to the north of the town centre surrounded by trees within a housing estate. Originally built of wood or stone, it was a fortification on a raised earthwork called a motte surrounded by a protective ditch. There is a [[Second World War]] FW3/28A [[Pillbox (military)|pillbox]] by the [[River Ock]] near [[Marcham]] Road.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pillbox FW3/28A Abingdon |url=http://en.tracesofwar.com/article/23351/Pillbox-FW3-28A-Abingdon.htm |work=tracesofwar.com |access-date=18 June 2013 |archive-date=14 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150114110419/http://en.tracesofwar.com/article/23351/Pillbox-FW3-28A-Abingdon.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> A [[gaol]], built by prisoners of the [[Napoleonic Wars]] in 1811, is on the south edge of town next to the [[Thames]]. In the 1970s the gaol was converted into a [[leisure centre]]. In 2011 the site was developed into residential and commercial premises. According to local legend, prior to its conversion in the 1970s, the gaol was haunted by the ghost of an eight-year-old boy who, after being convicted for arson in the mid-19th century, became the youngest person in the UK to be executed by [[hanging]].<ref>{{harvnb|Sullivan|2012|p=}}{{page needed|date=March 2015}}</ref>

The Roysse Room was the site of [[Abingdon School]] (then 'Roysse's School') from 1563 until it moved to its current site after an [[indenture]] by [[John Roysse]], who had been born and educated in Abingdon before he moved to [[London]]. The room is now part of the civic offices. [[St Helen's Church, Abingdon|St. Helen's Church]] dates from around 1100 and is the second-widest church in England, having five [[aisle]]s and being {{convert|10|ft|0}} wider than it is long. The [[bell tower|tower]] of St Helen's Church has a modern [[Change ringing|ring]] of ten bells, cast by the [[Whitechapel Bell Foundry]] in 2005 and hung in a new frame with new fittings by [[Appleton, Oxfordshire#White's of Appleton|White's of Appleton]] in 2006.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://odg.org.uk/history/onb/abingdon_st_helen.html |year=2009 |title=St. Helen, Abingdon, Oxon |website=Oxford Diocesan Guild of Church Bell Ringers |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402100211/http://odg.org.uk/history/onb/abingdon_st_helen.html |archive-date=2 April 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Abingdon's [[county hall]] by the main [[market square]], built in 1677–1680 reputedly by [[Christopher Kempster]], stands on columns, leaving the ground floor open for a market and other functions. It was once hailed by [[Nikolaus Pevsner]] with the comment "Of the free-standing town halls of England with open ground floors this is the grandest".<ref>{{cite web |first=Nikolaus |last=Pevsner |authorlink=Nikolaus Pevsner |year=1966 |url=http://www.abingdon.gov.uk/partners/abingdon-county-hall-museum |title=Abingdon County Hall Museum former website |accessdate=31 October 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104144128/http://www.abingdon.gov.uk/partners/abingdon-county-hall-museum |archivedate=4 November 2013}}</ref> It now houses the [[Abingdon County Hall Museum]] and is run by [[English Heritage|Historic England]].<ref>{{NHLE|num=1199601|desc=County Hall and Market House, Abingdon |accessdate=29 April 2018}}</ref>