Abbey Gateway

This magnificent Gateway in Reading is part of the medieval Reading Abbey founded by King Henry I in 1121. Initially established for one hundred Cluniac monks, it quickly became one of Europe's largest royal monasteries. The gateway separated the monks’ private quarters from the more public areas. Dissolved in 1539 during the Reformation, the abbot, Hugh Cook, questioned Henry’s right to close the abbey and was accused of treason and was hung, drawn and quartered on the 14th November 1539.

Queen Elizabeth I turned the Abbot’s house into a royal palace, but after her death, this fell out of use and in the 18th century, one of the houses built to replace it became home to the Reading Ladies’ Boarding School which used the gateway as its entrance. Jane Austen attended the school here between the summer of 1785 and December 1786.

Jane was too young to make her going to school at all necessary... (but) she would go with Cassandra; if Cassandra’s head had been going to be cut off Jane would have hers cut off too.

-Mrs Austen

Unfortunately, due to financial issues, the girls had to leave school at the end of the term. Jane only mentions her school days once in her letters, ‘I could die of laughter at it as they used to say at School’, but it seems she was happy whilst there.

As part of the Jane Austen 250th celebrations, a plaque was unveiled on the 30th June 2025, commemorating her time here.

Abbey Gateway,

Reading

RG1 3BD