The New Murrey and Blue blog

Well, now the General Election is over and done with, and regardless of the result, something about the whole business caught my attention. Muchelney Abbey in Somerset was a polling station! Can you imagine it? Not your usual school or village hall, but an exquisite medieval abbey said to have been founded by King Athelstan!

I remember some years ago that my late husband and I went to Somerset for the weekend and booked in at an old inn. Leaving the main road to reach our destination in the Somerset Levels, we suddenly came upon Muchelney Abbey. Out of the blue, it was just there, right by the country road. So very striking and beautiful.

The old inn was beautiful too, except for the tortuously steep winding staircase to our room. But the food was great, especially the breakfasts which were the handiwork of a large ex-seaman who certainly knew how to cook a magnificent “English breakfast”. The best we’d ever had. Not that that has anything to do with Muchelney Abbey, of course. Don’t ask me for the name of the inn because I’m danged if I can find it now. I’ve “driven” around the area on Google Maps in search of it, but without success. Failing memory, I fear.

To read more about the abbey, go here Houses of Benedictine monks: The abbey of Muchelney | British History Online (british-history.ac.uk) and History of Muchelney Abbey | English Heritage (english-heritage.org.uk). And if you go here Virtual Tour of Muchelney Abbey | English Heritage (english-heritage.org.uk) you’ll find a virtual tour.

Incidentally, the name Muchelney means “the great island”, and in the terrible floods of January 2014, when the Somerset Levels became a virtual sea, it became clear how the name came about.