8th October 2023

Last month I was on holiday in Yorkshire and I visited several English Heritage sites. These included the ruins of three abbeys and it inspired me to compose a song about the dissolution of the monasteries during the reign of Henry VIII.

Manuscripts lost and precious books destroyed

The power of a King so brutal and royal

Magnificent ruins of broken stone

Broken by King Henry on the English throne

This dissolution by Cromwell was planned

So much culture was lost throughout the land

Stained glass lost the abbeys were destroyed

The power of a King so brutal and royal

Magnificent ruins of broken stone

Broken by King Henry on the English throne

Reformation ran out of control

With vandalism playing such a leading role

The lead was removed so the roofs were destroyed

The power of a King so brutal and royal

Magnificent ruins of broken stone

Broken by King Henry on the English throne

Romantic ruins where the tourists go

Such as the one called Rievaulx