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St Benet’s Abbey, in Norfolk, is a medieval monastery of the Order of Saint Benedict. It was established in about 1019 when King Cnut, who ruled England and Denmark, granted land and property to some hermits who are thought to have been worshipping at the site since the 9thCentury. The abbey grew to be very wealthy, yet remarkably, it was the only monastery not to be dissolved under the orders of Henry VIII during his 16thCentury land grab against the Roman Catholic Church. Yet the political upheaval left it struggling to survive and not longer after, it was abandoned. Benedict of Nursia (March 2, AD480 – about March 21, AD547) is a Christian saint, remembered as the founder of western monasticism after having penned the first set of rules for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot, his so-called Rule. He is also the patron saint of Europe. Like many of the roads on the St Helier’s estate this is named after British monasteries and abbeys in remembrance of the area’s historic ownership by Westminster Abbey. The road names are in alphabetical order, of which Aberconway Road in the north west of the estate is first.
