Editing Reading Abbey (section)

===Abbey Mill and Holy Brook===
[[File:Abbey Mill Arch.jpg|thumb|right|Abbey Mill across the Holy Brook]]
{{Main|Holy Brook}}
Some remains of the former '''Abbey Mill''' are visible alongside the Holy Brook at the south of the abbey site; they consist of a ruined former [[watermill]] on the [[Holy Brook]], a channel of the [[River Kennet]]. The ruins are [[grade II listed]].<ref name=he>{{cite web |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1113390 |title=Abbey Mill Ruins, Reading |publisher=[[Historic England]] |accessdate=24 January 2020  |archivedate=3 February 2020 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200203112314/https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1113390}}</ref> It is situated just to the south of the ruins of the Abbey itself.<ref name=tale/> The [[water mill]] originally belonged to Reading Abbey, whose monks are believed to have created the Holy Brook as a water supply to this and other mills owned by them and to the abbey's [[fish pond]]s.<ref>{{cite web | last = Ford | first = David Nash | work = Royal Berkshire History | publisher = Nash Ford Publishing | url = http://www.berkshirehistory.com/maps/reading_abbey/rdgab14.html | title = The Abbey Mill Arch | access-date = 2 May 2009}}</ref><ref name=  "  tale">{{cite book | title = The Holy Brook or The Granators Tale | first1 = Adam | last1 = Sowan | last2 = Castle |first2 = Sally |last3 = Hay |first3 = Peter | publisher = Two Rivers Press | year = 2003 | isbn = 978-1-901677-34-8}}</ref>

The mill was built straddling the Holy Brook which marked the southern boundary of the monastic enclosure. It continued to grind corn into the 1950s. Today, all that remains is a section of wall, pierced by three arches. The wall is built of [[flint]] with [[caen stone]] [[ashlar]] dressings and brick filling. The two side arches are round headed, whilst the centre arch over the Holy Brook is larger and pointed.<ref name=he/><ref name=corpus>{{cite web|title=READING ABBEY MILLS, BERKSHIRE |url=http://www.crsbi.ac.uk/ed/be/ramil/index.htm |publisher=The Corpus of ROMANESQUE SCULPTURE in Britain and Ireland |accessdate=2007-10-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050414001348/http://www.crsbi.ac.uk/ed/be/ramil/index.htm |archive-date=April 14, 2005 }}</ref>

The Holy Brook is a {{convert|6|mi}} long, largely artificial, watercourse which flows out of the [[River Kennet]] near the village of [[Theale]], passes just to the south of the Abbey, and returns to its parent river just downstream of the Abbey Mill.<ref name=  "  tale" />