Reading Abbey was founded by Henry I in 1121 "for the salvation of my soul, and the souls of King William, my father, and of King William, my brother, and Queen Maud, my wife, and all my ancestors and successors". King Henry I is buried somewhere in the abbey grounds, although it is feared his remains may well lie beneath the nearby school or even the ringroad. Other royal persons buried in the abbey include parts of Empress Matilda, William of Poitiers, and Constance of York although the graves are not marked.

Following its royal foundation, the abbey was established by a party of monks from the French abbey of Cluny, together with monks from the Cluniac priory of St Pancras at Lewes in Sussex. It was built on a gravel spur "between the rivers Kennet and Thames, on a spot calculated for the reception of almost all who might have occasion to travel to the more populous cities of England". The adjacent rivers provided convenient transport, and the abbey established wharves on the River Kennet. The Kennet also provided power for the abbey water mills, most of which were established on the Holy Brook.

Because of its royal patronage, the abbey was one of the pilgrimage centres of medieval England, and one of its richest and most important religious houses, with possessions as far away as Herefordshire and Scotland. The abbey also held over 230 relics including the hand of St James. A shriveled human hand was found in the ruins during demolition work in 1786 and is now in St Peter's RC Church, Marlow. The song Sumer is icumen in, which was first written down in the abbey about 1240, is the earliest known four part harmony from Britain. The original document is held in the British Library.

The abbey was largely destroyed in 1538 during Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries. The last abbot, Hugh Cook Faringdon, was subsequently tried and convicted of high treason and hanged, drawn and quartered in front of the Abbey Church. After this, the buildings of the abbey were extensively robbed, with lead, glass and facing stones removed for reuse elsewhere.

The inner rubble cores of the walls of the major buildings of the abbey still stand, and in recent years have been conserved, although there are currently fears over the stability of the Cloister Arch and parts of the ruins are closed to the public at present.

The abbey's hospitium dormitory survives and will be the setting for this year's Festival.

With thanks to Wikipedia.