St Clement’s, at Ashampstead was built for the Benedictine Abbey of Lyre in France.
During the 12th Century the Abby’s Scriptorium was very active, bearing witness to the abbey’s vitality and prestige by the quality of the illuminated manuscripts it produced and which are now conserved in libraries throughout Europe.
In the mid-12th century the monks also undertook rebuilding at the abbey, but in 1188 it was destroyed in a fire, St Clement’s & it’s wall paintings date from this time.
