Agreeable symmetry-Warden Abbey Vineyard is a custodian of the present and the past

Rebecca Farmer, Editor of Vineyard Magazine, visits grapevines that reach out far into the community that surround them

- Rebecca Farmer

When you arrive at any vineyard in the UK or anywhere in the world for that matter there are certain things that will be the same. There will be soil, there will be posts and trellis and there will of course be vines. These points will differ in the detail but they are key elements of any vineyard, however there are so many unique points at Warden Abbey Vineyard, it is difficult to know where to begin.

Perhaps it might be best to start with Henry VIII. According to Margaret Roberts, a member of the Friends of Warden Abbey who is also the historian for the site “it was on 4 December 1537 that the Dissolution of the Monasteries” arrived in this small part of Bedfordshire and the occupation of this site that had begun in 1135 ceased. The Abbey was of the Cistercian Order and in her booklet titled “Warden Abbey the Monastic Landscape,” Margaret writes: “Warden was one of six Cistercian abbeys in Britain known to have had a vineyard, with about 37 acres under vine it was by far the largest.” It is fascinating to learn that the current area where the vines are planted had been used in late middle ages for industrial purposes. In the soil lay hidden many fragments of tiles, some with colours that are extremely well preserved. Even an old stone masons chisel or wedge has been unearthed. Whilst we are standing in the vineyard Margaret points out an area of 3.5 acres adjacent to the current vineyard which until recently had a disputed heritage. Margaret explained that she has recently been able to prove that this area was part of the medieval monastic vineyard.